Royal Turbulences
by memedis
Summary: After his return to Japan Ryoma is attending a boarding high school. What will happen if the prince and the king end up in one room? Will the school survive? Will they find a common language? Or maybe something more? Royal Pair, AtoRyo and other pairings
1. Return of the prince

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING****:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**SPECIAL THANKS**: Sanz0girl for betaing.

**A/N**: This is my first attempt at fan fiction of any kind. It's mainly about Royal Pair, although not from the beginning... Other pairings are also taken into consideration but nothing determinate yet. The action takes place over two years after the Nationals. Everybody is in High School.

**ENJOY !!!**

"Speach"

_Thoughts_

_

* * *

  
_

**Chapter 1: Return of the prince**

The weather was really hot, even for mid-September. Echizen Ryoma, age 15, the new US Open champion, came back to Japan after over two years of absence. He left this country after his first year in Seishun Gakuen to start his official tennis career in US. And now he was standing at the gate of Tawamure Gakuen in Tokyo. Despite it being the middle of a school year, Echizen was enrolled to this high school as a freshmen.

'_Time sure flies fast',_he thought as he passed the gate and directed his steps towards the huge three-stories, U-shaped building.

It was early afternoon and all classes have finished already. Although Echizen knew that the first place he should be headed to was a principal's office, he decided to check the tennis courts first. He found it far more interesting.

To Ryoma's big displeasure, as soon as he crossed the school gate, he became a general object of interest. Obviously, it wasn't a common view to see high school student in the middle of a campus wearing dark-blue jeans, red t-shirt and white baseball cap instead of traditional school black uniform. It is no wonder that everyone around were mumbling while giving him nosy glances. Echizen pulled his cap lower, thankful that nobody didn't recognize him so far, and turned left to the courts.

'_Che'_ he thought with disappointment when saw who was actually occupying the courts.

"Gambatte, Yagami senpai"

"Show him who is the best, Neji senpai"

Two senior students were about to play a match surrounded by their supporters. Echizen had actually expected to see familiar faces from Seigaku, since he have heard from his best friend, Momoshiro, that almost all Seigaku's former regulars attended this school. Nevertheless, he decided to stay for a while and check on his future teammates.

" 30 to 15, Yagami to serve"

Each time one of the players scored a point, their full-of-admiration teammates started to shout.

At the moment when Ryoma was about to turn around and walk away a tennis ball rolled down just to his feet.

"Yo, kid pass me that ball! " one of the players shouted to Ryoma, who hardly cast a glance at his senpai.

"Are you deaf ?! I said pass me that ball! "

"Eee? Are you talking to me... senpai?" Echizen's bad attitude started to show up.

Ryoma put his tennis bag on the ground and pulled out a tennis racket ready to give his senpai-tachi a good tennis lesson. "How about a small match? "

"Hey Yagami, leave that kid alone. We are going to be regulars next year and he is no match to us" his tennis opponent stated.

"You are right Neji, but still I hate arrogant brats like him. We should show this guy how strong Tawamure Gakuen's tennis club is." Yagami, the taller of the players said smiling to his friend.

"Ooo, I had no idea you are so good senpai-tachi." In a trice, a well-known smirk popped up on Echizen's face. _Maybe this won't be as boring as I thought. _

"If that is the case maybe you should teach me a little about tennis?"

Ten minutes later Echizen took his tennis bag and left the court leaving his two opponents on the ground. The rest of non-regulars were standing like statues with their jaws wide open. If they are really going to be regulars next year young tennis star wished the team all the best. They will definitely need it.

After a small walk, Echizen eventually reached the principal's office situated at the top floor right in the middle of the school. He knocked the door and came inside not waiting for an invitation.

The office was rather big, all filled with trophies and medals. Besides headmaster's armchair there was a huge window from which one could see the whole backyard of the school with it's all sports fields and courts. All of them looked really impressive. _Maybe it was a good idea to come here and take a "vacation" _(as his baka oyaji called it)_ from official matches and all those endless travels._

"You are Echizen Ryoma, am I right?" principle's voice brought Echizen back from his thoughts.

The boy gave a short nod.

"Take a seat. I have to talk to you for a while." Headmaster pointed at the chair in front of his desk and not waiting a single second, started to explain what he had to say.

"As I believe you know our academy can be especially proud of our sports achievements. Our main disciplines are football and swimming, but 3 years ago we paid our attention also to tennis after spectacular victory of Seishun Gakuen during the Nationals." Headmaster paused to cast a glance at Echizen, but the boy didn't seem to reveal any emotions.

"Anyway, for those who cultivate those disciplines Tawamure Gakuen provided extended sports facilities such as courts, fields and swimming pools along with gyms, cafeteria and dormitories both for boys and girls. Normally freshmen, sophomores and seniors are located on different floors in dorms but since you came here in the middle of the year you will have to share a room with one of the seniors."

This sentence grabbed Echizen's attention right away. Maybe he will be able to share a room with one of his ex-teammates.

_It would be interesting to get known Tezuka buchou from the other, less stoic and less composed, side. If he had the other side of course.'_

"...every living space consists of three double rooms ,each with inner bathroom, and common leaving room and kitchen. Each dorm has a dorm head – usually a senior student chosen by residents of each house..."

_What was_ _he talking about? _ Echizen stopped to listen to the headmaster somewhere in between his talk.

It looked that the principal was about to continue with his lecture, but after giving this idea a second thought, he decided to finish the topic, to the young boy's undisguised relief.

"Welcome in our school Echizen-kun."

"Domo"

xxx

With keys in his hand, Echizen was now standing in front of the door with big silver number one above them. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to open them. Five seventeen year old boys were living together in this so called 'apartment' without any supervision. _There must be a total mess inside._

Echizen put the key into the lock and opened the door. _Interesting_ he thought when he saw nothing but perfectly clean living room. He took his suitcases and made his way towards his room.

There were to beds inside, two desks, two wardrobes and some shelves. At first sight nothing special, but as Echizen kept his little trip around his new room, couple of things grabbed his attention. _Who the hell is sleeping in satin bedding? And hanging those weird paintings on the walls? They look like they were created by a child. In addition not so talented. _He thought trying to guess what all those stains, strokes and weird colors we about to depict.

"Che, whatever" Ryoma mumbled to himself, since he simply didn't care and was so worn out from the long flight that he couldn't think about anything but bed. He left his bags in the middle of the room, laid into the bed and nestle his face down the pillow.

xxx

"What is going on here?" Tezuka asked when he entered the courts followed by his regulars. They were wearing club's black jerseys with white stripes along the sleeves and trouser legs.

"Cheers!" a choir of voices stated immediately. All the club members bowed deeply. They respected greatly their captain and all the regulars since every person in the club dreamed to improve and overtake their spots.

Tezuka looked around the courts and his sight concentrated on two players who just stood up from the ground. Their clothes were totally messed up.

"They look exhausted. There is 95% chance that they have just finished a very hard match" stated Inui who just slide out of Tezuka's back.

"Ten laps, everyone" As soon as captain said those _magic_ words almost everybody rushed to an exit. It was common knowledge that one shouldn't argue with Tezuka-buchou since it resulted only in increased number of laps. Nothing less, nothing more. This time however...

"It's not our fault buchou!" Yagami shouted with unconcealed anger.

"There came a cocky guy dressed in casual clothes and provoked us!" Neji added.

"We had to show him that he should have more respect for our club"

"Yeah, we had to protect our reputation!"

"So Ore-sama assume that you showed him where his place is, didn't you?" A characteristic smirk appeared on Atobe's face. _It must have been a total looser if they beat him..._

"Well..." both Yagami and Neji lowered their heads mumbling something to themselves.

"That's enough! You two 30 laps. Now!" Tezuka crossed his arms at his chest. He was really angry. He allowed this conversation to flow far too long. There were quite a lot of stalkers and scouts from other schools spying on them lately but none of them dared to challenge his club's members to a match. Ever.

Tezuka turned to their club's manager. "Inui does your data say anything about it?"

"After last tournament there is 0,1% chance that anybody would be brave enough to do this."

"Sa, maybe it's this new guy?" asked Fuji smiling as usual for everybody.

All regulars turned their heads towards tensai immediately, wandering what was he talking about. It's the middle of the year so there is no chance anybody new will come to this school.

"Would you care to explain it Fuji? Ore-sama is Student Council President and had never heard about it before"

"Don't worry Atobe." Fuji smiled even wider, still holding his blue eyes closed. "Just before the practice, I ran into the headmaster and he said we will have a new transfer student from America in our school from now on. He will be living in the dorms. Does that reply satisfy you?"

"Ii, data." Inui adjusted his glasses, as he used to do while thinking, pulled out a green notebook out of his bag and started to write down some calculations. "Ekhm, it may be still too early to define it, but it seems that there is about 60% chance, that this newcomer beat those two before"

"Yay!" shouted Kikumaru jumping toward his double partner, drawing his sleeve. "Maybe we will have a new cute member. We will show him the school and cook meals. I will call him chan-"

"Eiji-senpai, I think you just need a pet not a kouhai" claimed Momoshiro with little amusement in his eyes.

"Sssss" was Kaidoh way of confirmation.

"Oooo, did you just agreed with me Mamushi?"

"Baka! There is no way I would ever agree with you!"

"Are you picking a fight Viper? I will show you-"

"Enough!" Tezuka voice froze everybody in their positions. "Kaidoh, Momoshiro ten laps now! Fuji is a dorm leader so he will take care of that guy later on" The captain imposed and turned on to club's members who just finished their previous punishment . "First years prepare for ball gathering, second years get on court D, seniors on court C. Regulars courts A and B. Start the practice"

xxx

Ryoma rolled over his bed for at least twentieth time within last hour. He was tired and his head was hurting. _Damn jetlag_

Once again he revolved to his back starring at the white ceiling. Starting tomorrow he will be able to live as, more or less, normal teenager for another half of a year. No press conferences, no photo sessions and no phone calls from his persistent manager about never-ending interviews. All he wanted was to play tennis against the best of the world but somehow he ended up as a star. _This vacation from all of this crap was a very good idea. But there is no way I would admit it Oyaji'_

-----

_One week ago in New York:_

_Ryoma sat in his favorite arm-chair, in an apartment that he was temporary calling his home, and pet Karupin who just laid down on his laps ready for sleep. The new US Open champion closed his eyes and tilted back his head. At last he has some free time for himself. _

'_Are you tired darling?' Ryoma's mother asked gently, looking at the face of her child. _

"_Partly" Ryoma admitted "But I would said that rather bored and angry. Why do I have to attend all those press conferences and answer all those not-tennis related questions?" he asked rather rhetorically. He didn't expect any answer. Being the younger winner of US Open implicated some inconveniences. But why the hell so many?_

"_Take a break seishounen" Echizen Nanjiroh found a solution to all Ryoma's problem in the blink of an eye._ "_You are only fifteen. Go back to Japan and spend the rest of this school year with your former teammates"_

"_Huh?" Ryoma couldn't believe in what he have just heard._

"_I have disappeared from pro tennis years ago, so they won't be so surprised when samurai junior will do the same, will they?" _

_At those words Ryoma smiled to himself. He knew already where he will be_ _soon._

_-----  
_

Echizen took a deep breath to awake himself a little bit more and stood up from the bed. He opened one of his bags and grabbed a can of grape Ponta. This was the only good thing about being a star. Since last year Ryoma was Ponta brand's ambassador and the company provided him with unlimited amount of his favorite drink.

He checked his watch. It was late afternoon already, so he took his steps toward the courts hoping that regulars would be there already.

Focused on the sounds made by tennis balls bouncing on the ground Echizen didn't even noticed two figures dashing in his direction.

"It's you! How dare you-"

"Leave him alone Yamato. I don't want to run anymore laps today."

Echizen lifted his cap a little, only to see the two guys he bet heavily before.

"Oh, I see you've decided to build up your muscles a bit, senpai-tachi" Echizen's eyes were sparking and the smirk on his lips was even more cheeky than usually.

"You brat!" Yamato rushed snatching young tennis star T-shirt tightly.

"Let him go, Yamato. Tezuka-buchou will deal with this cocky brat later".

_Oh, so Tezuka buchou is__ once again a buchou? Heh, who else could it be? _Echizen thought to himself.

"Mada mada dane" he said starring straight in his senior's eyes.

Commotion made by those three attracted attention of the rest people gathered on the courts. At least an attention of a common members, because regulars were _very_ concentrated on their current practice. A single thought about punishment in the form of Inui's newest Super Nutritious Juice send shivers down their backs.

"What's going on there Inui?" Fuji asked smacking the ball right into the center of one of the small squares marked on the court.

"It seems that Yamato and Neji are having an argument with somebody. There is 75% chance that this is the very same person they lost to before" The data man replied still passing the balls towards regulars.

"Get back to practice. Yudan sezu ni ikkou." Tezuka imposed not letting his sight from the young tennis star. This figure, this cap... everything seemed so familiar to him. _Impossible. It cannot be Echizen. He just won the next big tournament and stays in America._ Tezuka crossed his arms at his chest again and came back to practice supervising.

xxx

Echizen starred for a while how the training was progressing before he decided to move slowly towards tennis couch's office. His father mentioned that this women is an old friend of him from the times when started conquering States.

"Oh, Ryoma-kun. I see you have already arrived." A smiling women in her early forties greeted the boy in the middle of the corridor leading to her office. "I'm Tosaka sensei. Nice to meet you." Her eyes were examining him carefully.

The only response Echizen gave her was a small nod. If this women was acquaintance of the samurai Nanjiroh she must have been a former pro. The young tennis star wished to find in her at least a good rival.

"It's high time for practice to end. Shall we go to the courts? I will introduce you to the team, although I'm sure that some of them you know pretty well" Tosaka sesnei stated and conducted the boy outside the building.

xxx

"Line up everybody!" Atobe ordered. He was the club's vice-captain. Immediately six rows of students were formed. The first was of course reserved for regulars.

"Ore-sama think you didn't show today anything special and it's ten years too early for you to think that you can compete with even the smallest part of Ore-sama magnificence- " Atobe continued in his usual exalting tone.

"That's enough Atobe" Tezuka said in lower voice still facing the club members. "Good work everybody. You are dismiss-"

"Wait Tezuka-kun" Tasaka sensei asked as she entered a court followed by a boy hidden behind her back. She turned to the students and announced "I would like to introduce you your new teammate."

Ryoma slide out of Tosaka sensei back.

"Echize-" she tried to continue, interrupted by the regulars.

"Wow Ochibi! It's really you, nya" Kikumaru was already bouncing towards the young tennis star. He wrapped his arms around the boy. "You have grown Ochibi!"

"Echzien what are you doing here? You didn't say you were coming, you didn't"

Ryoma felt strong pat on his back. _It seems that Momo-senpai became ever _stronger _over this time. _

"Eiji –senpai you are going to suffocate me." Echzien panted trying to catch even a little air. At those word cat-like player heroically restrained himself from squeezing his kouhai even more.

"Echizen"

"Welcome back Echizen"

"Fsss"

Ryoma looked at his friends. They didn't changed much.

Kikumaru was full of energy, hugging Ryoma and bouncing all over the place making a big fuss as usually.

Momoshiro was now much taller with facial hair visible on his face. He was too lazy to shave everyday.

Kaidoh was still wearing his green bandana. He was standing close to his favorite senpai who was probably a secret behind Kaidoh well-shaped muscles.

Inui looked exactly the same as 2 years ago with his eyes hidden behind his rectangular glasses and green notebook in his right hand. The only difference was that he didn't wear the regulars' jersey.

Oishi with his maternal voice was trying to pacify his doubles partner saving Ryoma's life.

Fuji was smiling at Ryoma with his eyes closed, although the tennis star could swear that they were open for a second when the tensai saw him first. Now, to Ryoma's contentment, they both were about the same height.

And the last figure. The person who helped Ryoma most. A man who showed him what the real tennis was about. Tezuka. He was standing like a pillar with his arms crossed at his chest and expressionless face that demanded respect.

Echizen, surrounded by his former teammates, was totally unable to see how big commotion his arrival created. Almost all club members went o-shape.

"Oi oi, sempai-tachi mean this Echizen? Echzien Ryoma? The one called samurai junior?" one of the sophomores asked his friend when he recovered a little from the shock he suffered.

"This is the prince of tennis? The guy who just set a new record of being the youngest winner of US Open?" One of the third years was gazing at Ryoma as at some kind of exhibit.

Neji and Yamato glanced at each other unable to stutter out a single word.

When Ryoma finally greeted with all of his former teammates and made some space for himself his eyes encountered person he had never expected to met here...

* * *

**A/N****: **Well, what do you think? Please drop me a review. It will make me really happy.

First six chapters are already written, so they will be published every couple of days. Hope you will stay with me.


	2. Surprise

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**SPECIAL THANKS****:** Sanz0girl for betaing.

**THANK YOU ****FOR R&R:** manga luver, may801, Sanz0girl, animelover4ever69, Me, Tenisu no Ojou-sama Kagome, ryoka-chan, HiKaRi-ChIbI, IsobelAnis, Asou

**A/N**: I know I said that I will publish every couple of days and this chapter should be updated somewhere around Monday, but I may have no access to the Internet during the next week. I've just re-read it and decided that I want to publish it asap. In this chapter the turbulences and the war begins!

**ENJOY !!!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: ****Surprise**

-----

_Previously on chapter __1:_

"_This is the prince of tennis? The guy who just set a new record of being the youngest winner of US Open?" One of the third years was gazing at Ryoma as at some kind of exhibit._

_Neji and Yamato__ glanced at each other unable to stutter out a single word._

_When Ryoma finally greeted with all of his former teammates and made some space for himself his eyes encountered person he had never expected to met here... _

-----

"Monkey King"

"Brat"

Echizen and Atobe exchanged their usually insults. It was the first round of the battle between a king and a prince. Both of them couldn't even imagine how often will they face each other during forthcoming months.

"Saa I'm sure everybody want to hear how was Echizen doing during those years. Maybe we should go to a living room in our apartment, since it's the biggest one in a whole dorm" Fuji suggested looking at his captain and vice-captain.

"Ore-sama is not interested in getting such a knowledge" Atobe retorted , expressing his displeasure.

"But be awed at Ore-sama's generosity" he added in a while.

"So it's decided. Captain lead the way" Fuji's smiled, but at this moment only Inui noticed that this wasn't tensai's usual expression. There was something in this smile. Something that portend trouble.

Tezuka nodded slightly and the whole bunch of regulars advanced towards an exit. Neither Echizen, surrounded with hyperactive half of the Golden Pair and his friend Momo asking him tons of questions a minute, nor Atobe, plunged into conversation with the former Hyotei tensai Oshitari, could hear Inui speaking to Fuji.

"If my data are complete, it seems that there is only one room with a vacancy. You, as a dorm leader, should know about it too, am I right Fuji?" Inui remarked to his shorter, ever smiling classmate, leafing through one of his infamous notebooks.

"I expected nothing less from you and your ability to associate facts Inui" Fuji stated, giving the same indirect answer to his friend's question.

"Shall we tell them?"

"Saa, don't you want to see their reaction when they will find out about it by themselves." Fuji teased Inui. He knew that his classmate would never miss such a great opportunity. Just thinking about gathering so much valuable data regarding Echizen's and Atobes' off-court behavior, made the data man tremble.

xxx

Although the living room in apartment no. 1 was the biggest in the whole dormitory, it hardly has enough space for eleven people.

"Hey Ochibi, tell us. Tell us how was it in America." Eiji asked first. He wanted to hear everything, from the very beginning.

It's true that all former Seigaku regulars followed Echizen's pro tennis career, watching his matches in TV and reading articles praising him to skies in Pro Tennis Magazine, however it wasn't the same as hearing a first-hand relation. It's also true that even if one wasn't interested in tennis at all, they had some knowledge about Samurai Junior since his photos appeared in countless magazines and on billboards all over Japan.

Before Echizen could reply to this question, he heard so far hundred times, Tawamure's mother-hen Oishi pointed "Eiji, I think you should stop calling Echizen Ochibi. He is now about the same height as you are"

"Indeed. He grew up about 9 inches during those 2 years." Inui estimated, inspecting tennis star from the top to the bottom. Then he added proudly "It seems that drinking two bottles of milk every morning gave great results."

Momoshiro couldn't resist and started to laugh. Tezuka suppressed a faint smile. Kikumaru, however, looked like somebody who was just told that his gold fish was drown.

"No way!" he exclaimed. "Ochibi will always be Ochibi. Even when he will turn 70."

"It's alright Eiji." Oishi tried to comfort his other half. Of course the other half of the Golden Pair.

"I don't mind Eiji senpai" Echizen said, seeing tears forming in his senior's eyes.

"That's pathetic, right Oshitari?" Atobe asked the former Hyotei tensai.

Yuushi had to take a deep breath to calm down a little. He was already at his limit. Really.

Tezuka and Fuji exchanged looks. They sympathize with Oshitari from the bottom of their hearts. Last month Kabaji received a letter from his family in England and had to go back there for indefinite period of time.

"Yes Atobe. And please stop asking me this question" When Oshitari recalled one of his days during last month his head started to hurt. Again.

-----

"_Ore-sama is making best omelets, right Oshitari?"_

"_How do you like my new shirt? Ore-sama has the best taste, right Oshitari?"_

"_No he can't go. He is going with Ore-sama to the library later, right Oshitari?"_

"_His skills don't compare to Ore-sama even a little, right Oshitari?_

_-----_

_Right Oshitari? Right Oshitari? Right Oshitari? _was echoed in boy's poor head. Who could think that he will miss this quiet, ever-attached to diva, Kabaji so much?

During the next hour Echizen was trying to satisfy his seniors' curiosity about his life in US, all the pros he fought against and all the tournaments he participated in. The series of questions seemed endless. Ryoma was getting more and more tired...

_Ring, ring_

The telephone in the right pocket of Samurai Junior's jeans started to ring. He had a bad feeling about it. Only three people used to call this number. First was his baka oyaji, but Echizen spoke with him at the airport already. Second was Kevin, his friend and rival, but now he was busy with a tennis training camp in Australia. The third was...

Echizen pulled out his mobile and checked a display.

_Mr. Davis_

Huh, it was the third possible person. His manager. He was always so importunate. One could say that it was his job to set matches, contact sponsors and so on... all the things Echizen was completely not interested in. But still he was so importunate.

Ryoma was starring at his phone couple of seconds and than decided to switch it off.

"Ne Echizen, aren't you going to answer?" asked Momoshiro.

"Nope. It's nothing important" Ryoma replied putting his mobile back to the jeans' pocket.

"If you say so" was Momo's short respond.

A Few seconds later , a loud knock to the apartment's door was heard. Before anybody has a chance to answer, the door opened. A Blond hair man of thirty dashed into the room. His face was really, really red. Barely breathing he turned to Echizen, gave him a stern stare and gasped out a few words in English.

"Ryoma, I'm gonna kill you!"

This threat caught everybody's attention. They were rendered speechless. Only Echizen stayed perfectly calm. He heard it at least once a month.

"You are exactly like your father. What the hell is wrong with you Echizens?" Mr. Davis was almost crying. "I knew you will turn off your phone, I just knew it."

"I'm sorry but could you explain who are you sir?" Tezuka as a team captain took an initiative, giving the man one of his famous, perfectly stoic and cold looks.

"It's ok buchou" Ryoma stood up from his seat between Momo and Kikumaru, who was actually squeezing his kouhai arm firmly, and walked towards a newcomer. "It's my manager, " he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in a world.

"Nani?!" The regulars reached a rare synchro, all at once. Their eyes were wandering forth and back from young tennis star to his manager. _Is Echizen going back to States?_

"Excuse us for a while" The older man stated with a smile that looked rather like a grimace, grabbed Ryoma's hand and dragged him out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

The remainder were sitting silent, eavesdropping on a quite loud conversation between those two. Even Oshitari's roommate Jirou woke up for a while to check what was going on with this whole commotion.

"_Ryoma how could you do this to me?! Do you realize how worried I was?!"_

"_It wasn't my idea"_

"_Not yours? Since when__ do __you__ listen __your father?!"_

"_I shall persuade you to come back, but since it totally pointless, would you care to tell me how long are you planning to stay here? ..." _

"This whole situation is rather interesting, isn't it?" Oshitari noticed, still gaping at the door.

"Nya Oishi, what have just happened?" Kikumaru looked at his roommate with confusion in his blue eyes. He tried to seize those past few minutes. Unfortunately without a success.

"There is 100% chance that this _unimportant_ phone call Echizen rejected a while ago was from his manager." Inui came with help, giving a short explanation. " It's also doubtless that he disappeared from US without leaving any trace or information to "

"It sounds exactly like Echizen" Kaidoh hissed.

"Ma, ma, it's hard to be famous." Momo stated with wide smile trying to excuse his best friend a little.

"But it's even harder to be that brat's manager" Atobe put into words what everybody was thinking silently. Everybody nodded. There was no doubt about it.

"True" Inui agreed with the diva. "Echizen is totally uncooperative when it comes to non-tennis related activities, he is stubborn and does not bother himself with informing others about his plans." The data man stopped his enumerating here, although he could continue it with ease.

An argue outside the room faded and the _star of the evening_ came back inside. Ryoma met ten pairs of eyes starring at him. No, wait, nine pairs of eyes, because Jirou was sleeping again, so he doesn't count.

"Well?" Fuji started, encouraging Echizen to talk.

"Well what, Fuji senpai?" The youngest tennis player really looked like he didn't know what his senior was insinuating.

"Would you be so kind to share with us what you were talking about?" tensai didn't give it up.

"Sumimasen senpai-tachi" After this whole quarrel Echizen wasn't in mood to for the further conversation. His manager literally forced him to promise that he will attend a special press conference, before his disappearing will cause storm in a teacup.

"I'm going to bed"

Inui and Fuji exchanged meaningful looks. Tensai took out his camera. The fun was about to start now.

Echizen opened a door to one of the rooms. "Goodnight senpai-tachi".

The expressions on everybody's faces was unforgettable. With their jaws wide open they couldn't say a single word.

Momoshiro was rolling on the floor laughing. Even Kaidoh was chuckling. Tezuka's eyes widen significantly behind his spectacles, although his face remained solemn as always. At least for an average spectator.

Eiji cried in Oishi's sleeve that he want to live with Ochibi in one apartment too. Oshitari looked a little amused, but Fuji suspected that other tensai had a hint about the whole situation. He was also a genius after all. Jirou, well, he was sleeping so nothing interesting.

But the expression on the Atobe's face would be worth all the money in the world, despite a fact that it was actually priceless.

"I beg your pardon! What are you doing brat?!" Atobe looked like a diva even when inside he was mixed-up with the whole range of emotions, from astonishment to anger. _How dare that brat walking into my room?!_

"I believe it's called going to sleep, Monkey King."

Now everybody in the room, except of Atobe of course, were smecking all over their rots. Even ever-stoic captain was chuckling. Echizen was starring at them with no clue about what was going on.

"You have to be kidding. It is Ore-sama room. And Ore-sama have no roommate." Atobe was recovering his grip and his self-control. As a Student Council President he has some privileges. One of them was that he could live alone. With no peasants. And certainly with no brats.

"Nani?!" Echzien's golden eyes opened wider as his brain started to associate facts. He was starting to understand the whole situation. But damn, it wasn't funny at all.

"You mean that out of all people I got stuck in one room with you, Monkey King?!" Speaking like that to the king could no other but the prince.

"Fuji, you are a dorm leader. Ore-sama demands to put that cocky brat in another room" Atobe imposed in a voice intolerating any objections.

"Sorry Atobe, but it's the only room with a free bed. And although this is a floor for seniors, a headmaster gave a special order to place Echizen here." Tensai cut out further complaints.

Both the diva and Samurai Junior were starring at each other. None of them said anything. Was it a beginning of a cold war?

"What does not kill you makes you stronger." Oshitari's remark hit the bull's eye.

"I only hope that our apartment will survive" Tezuka whispered to Fuji, his roommate.

xxx

Next day in a morning...

"Monkey King get out of the there!" Ryoma was shouting, knocking on the door with his right fist. His classes were about to start in 10 minutes and still he couldn't get to the bathroom for a morning shower.

"Ore-sama told you already, that Ore-sama will come out when Ore-sama is ready. So stop knocking already!" Atobe yelled Ryoma back.

"You are sitting there almost an hour. I will be late because of you!" Normally Echizen would not mind it, but it's rather lame not to be on time on the first day for an usual introduction to the class.

"Ore-sama don't care. Ore-sama beauty requires special treatment!" Atobe exclaimed carefully moving a razor down his cheek. _Has this brat any idea how__ much effort does it take to __maintain such a magnificent presence? _Obviously the whole cabinet filled with cosmetics was not for show.

"If you won't come out within 3 seconds I will turn you the light off!" Echizen was running out of patience.

"Don't you dare brat!"

"I'm counting. 3...2...1." Ryoma pressed down the button next to the door.

"Aaaa, are you insane Echizen?" Atobe came out only in towel belted on his hips. A small wound on his face was bleeding.

"It seems that you have something on your face, Monkey King" the younger boy used his index finger and pointed thin trail of blood on Atobe's cheek. Few more seconds and it was going to drop on his chest.

"Serves you right" he added flashing by diva to the bathroom...

In the meantime the rest four residents of infamous apartment no.1 were sitting in the kitchen, eating a breakfast. Today, all of them decided not to go to cafeteria. They didn't want to miss a continuation of the previous day. Thanks to Fuji, an author of this idea, they could clearly hear each word of quarrel between the king and the prince.

"You know during those whole six years of knowing Atobe, I have never heard him yelling like that" Oshitari declared chewing his sandwich. "And Echizen did it within one day"

"Actually within less than 12 hours" Fuji corrected. He didn't want to decrease his kouhai achievements. At last hardly anyone was able to do this.

Tezuka looked at the closed door to the room whereof the quarrel was coming from. _Those two has a long way to go._

Atobe was Tezuka's friend and rival since junior high. For almost 3 years they have been sharing an apartment in a dorm here in Tawamure Gakuen. And he had never heard the diva being so angry. On the other hand, the same applied to Echizen. Tezuka was his captain only for a year, back in Seishoun Gakuen, but Ryoma was barely saying anything than. And now the whole dormitory could hear both of them.

The door opened and Atobe went out of his room. He looked exactly as usual, calm and distinguished. No signs of an argument from before. Wait... there was a small sticking plaster on his left cheek. _That brat is going to pay for this!_

_

* * *

  
_

**A/N****: **Please drop me a review whether you like it or not (although I hope you do). It will make me really happy.

If you would like to see a particular pair please let me know. I will take it into consideration.


	3. Atobe leads

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**SPECIAL THANKS:** Sanz0girl for betaing.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R:** may801, IsobelAnis, Gone and forgoten., HiKaRi-ChIbI, ryoka-chan, Me, roses-have-thorns911, denizen of the night.

**A/N**: Ok, here comes the next chapter and the first battle between Keigo and Ryoma.

**ENJOY !!!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Atobe lead****s**

_-----_

_Previously on chapter 2:_

_The door opened and Atobe went out of his room. He looked exactly as usual, calm and distinguished. No signs of an argument from before. Wait... there was a small sticking plaster on his left cheek. That brat is going to pay for this!_

_-----_

_Knock, knock._

The door opened and a young, dark-green hair, golden-eyes boy stepped into a classroom. He looked around. Thirty pairs of eyes were stuck on him. Some girls in the back of the classroom whispered pointing him out. An older man holding a chalk was looking piercingly at him.

"Oh, Echizen-kun. I'm happy that you have decided to join us." A teacher said sarcastically looking at his watch. "Despite that you are twenty minutes late". Obito-sensei was rather strict, especially when it comes to punctuality.

"I'm sorry for being late" Echzien said lowering his head. He knew it will end this way. _Damn Monkey King._

"Class, this is your new college Echizen Ryoma-kun. He transferred from America. I believe you will help him to feel like at home" The teacher announced and showed Echizen free place at the end of the classroom, just next to two girls smiling widely. They were giggling now rather than whispering.

Before Echizen could move an inch, Obito-sensei added "And report yourself after classes to a staff room. We will discuss your punishment for being late."

It's good that reporters were not allowed to enter the school area. If it leaked out to the press, Mr. Davis would kill him for sure.

Echizen walked up to his chair and took a seat. _Great now I will be late for tennis practice too. Grrr. I will pay HIM back for this._

xxx

Atobe was walking through the corridor on the second floor. He was angry. Really angry. Even the group of his most loyal peasants, that usually follows him closely, today was keeping rather long distance. Only Oshitari was able to handle the heavy aura around the diva. Everyone who tried to get closer to him, or even worse, asked Atobe what happened to his cheek, would be torn, into at least two pieces, with the glare they will receive from their kaichou1.

Oshitari opened the door to the Student Council Room and let the diva in. Normally he wouldn't do this but the probability that the door won't last a meeting with Atobe in his present condition was incredibly high.

Atobe entered the room and went straight to the wardrobe. He opened it and took out his favorite purple shirt. He hoped that at least the sensation of the highest quality silk on his skin will help him calm down and gather his thoughts.

"Oshitari, tell Tezuka that Ore-sama probably would not favor them with his magnificent presence today. Ore-sama have too much work with the upcoming fild-day"

Atobe sat in his leather arm-chair, briefly checked his calendar than tiled his head back and closed his eyes.

"Atobe, it's rather unexpected of you not to show up for practice, but do as you wish." Oshitari took one last glance at his friend, turned and left the room, leaving the diva alone. At the beginning he found it really amusing, and together with Fuji, he even teased Atobe a little, but now he started to worry about him. The diva carried heavier burden that anyone suspected. Even a tensai himself didn't know all the details.

Atobe was laying in his chair less than five minutes, although it felt like eternity. Lately he has so much work in school, in his father's company, with his additional lessons and worsened stock-exchange indicators. At the top of it, he ended up with Echizen in one room. _How it's even possible?_

xxx

Ryoma finished his classes, took his bag and headed to the door.

"Ryoma-sama!"

Echizen froze. His flesh creeped. He certainly have heard something like that back in Seishun Gakuen, but somehow he couldn't remember who called him like that. No faces, only the feeling of unpleasantness.

Echizen turned back and spotted a bunch of girls approaching him. In the blink of an eye he decided to pretend that he hadn't heard anything. Not at all.

"That is _this_ Echizen Ryoma, isn't it? He's so cool! " One of the girls squealed to the other.

"Ryoma-sama! Wait! Give us at least an autograph!"

"Ekhm... Ryoma-sama-" Black-hair girl blocked his way. Apparently she was the most courageous one and was chosen by her friends to talk with tennis star first.

Echizen was staring at her with his golden, almond-shaped eyes and his trademarked impatient look. _Why there never was when he was needed?_ It was the only good thing about his manager. He always dealt with fans and Echizen didn't have to come through with them.

"Ryoma-sama would you like me to show you around the school?" The girl turned a nice shed of red.

"Oi, Echizen!" Momoshiro was waving from the stairs. Light brown head girl was standing next to him.

"Sorry." Echizen said to the girl next to him. He slung his bag on his back and started to move towards his friend. A bunch of girls from his newly formed fan club followed him.

"I see that you have already gained a group o supporters. Atobe-senpai won't be happy about a competitor." Momo chuckled, wrapped his right hand around Echizen's neck, left pulling him by his hair.

"Takeshi you are going to suffocate him." A girl standing next to Momoshiro tries to help a famous freshman who, however, looked somehow used to that kind of treatment.

" Aaa, Echizen you do remember An,right." Momoshiro stated rather than asked, releasing his friend from deadly hug.

Ryoma observed a girl for a while. Shoulder-length, light-brown hair, blue eyes that were looking straight at him and wide smile showing that she doesn't feel awkward at all. She was wearing a school uniform. Pleated knee-length black skirt, white blouse with bow tie and dark-blue jacket. Silver Roman number two was sewed on the right lapel.

"You are Fudomine's Tachibana little sister." Ryoma said after a while.

"Oi, oi, Echizen. She has a name. A very beautiful name." The spiky black hair boy declared affronted, holding the girl's hand, his eyes heart-shaped when he was looking at her. He was in a completely lovey-dovey state.

"I see Momo-senpai that you finally managed to win her heart." Echizen was looking at this sweet, barely bearable scene.

"How did you know?" Momoshiro asked truly astonished. The remaining two exchanged their looks. It wasn't that hard to come up with this idea.

"I have to go. Momo-senpai please tell Tezuka-buchou that I may not appear today at the practice." Echizen passed the couple and without a single word started to climb the stairs.

"Why? Everybody is waiting for you to see what have you have learnt in America!"

"Punishment." Echizen replied shortly and disappeared in the corridor on the second floor.

"Eeeee?!" Was the only sound Momoshiro could articulate. _Jeez, first day and he already got into trouble. _

xxx

"Oh, Echizen-kun. Let me show you the way." Obito-sensei went out of staff room and turned right. They walked few seconds and stopped in front of room number 201 with a sighboard: _Student Council Room_ above the door. Echizen followed his teacher and stepped into the room.

"Atobe-kun, I brought you someone to help you today-" Obito sensei started, unable to finish.

"You" Both boys exclaimed and pointed themselves at the same time.

"Oh, I see you know each other." The teacher said astonished.

"Echizen-kun was late for classes today, so as a penalty he will be helping you today with whatever you need". Obito-sensei explained briefly addressing to Atobe.

"I wonder whose fault it is." Ryoma mumbled loud enough for Keigo to hear it. The latter smirked at him.

The teacher turned around and left unaware of a fact that leaving those two together in one room may not be the wisest decision...

Atobe was sitting in his leather arm-chair very content with the arose situation. His latest main problem was standing right before him, ready, willingly or not, to do anything the diva will order. _It would be a sin not to take an advantage of such a nice opportunity._

"You can start brat with serving Ore-sama a green tea." Atobe imposed pleased with an expression manifested on Echizen's face.

xxx

Next day in the tennis locker room...

"Atobe, follow me please" Tezuka said to his vice-captain and leaded him through the door, out of the club house. It was early afternoon and all club members were preparing for the upcoming tennis practice.

Both teenagers went away several yards being aware that at least some people were eavesdropping. It's not that they had something to conceal. It was just simply annoying and Tezuka didn't want to worsen diva's mood any further. There was a next battle over the, already famous, bathroom in the morning.

"Atobe, I have to discuss some club issues with Tosaka-sensei, so please lead tennis practice today." Tezuka informed his friend.

Unexpectedly confident smirk went up on Atobe's face. It was an inevitable sign that he has an idea and, considering the past two days, it was certainly connected to Tawamure's new super rookie. Tezuka spotted that and reacted immediately.

"Atobe, please remember that you are club's vice-captain. You must set an example and do nothing against the rules." The bespectacled boy would never have expected that a day would come, when he would be giving the diva such an advice.

Atobe's eyes narrowed. He felt truly insulted. Is Tezuka really thinking that he will do anything that low? Ok, he had an idea, but nothing against the rules.

"Don't worry Tezuka. Ore-sama will do nothing to violate any of your precious principles."

xxx

Meanwhile in the club-house:

Fuji brought his face close to Oshitari, leaning to reach the latter's ear and whispered.

"Saa, Oshitari have you seen that smirk on our fuku-buchou's face."

Former Hyoutei tensai nodded. He knew Fuji quite well for now and had a very good hint about what the other genius was implying.

"It seems that something will happen during our practice today." Fuji continued, his eyes still closed but his smile a little wider.

"Unfortunately I have the same feeling." Oshitari admitted, still observing Atobe through the window. Then whispered "Don't tell me Fuji you want to lay _the next_ bet."

"Indeed" Those small bets with his classmate were bringing at least a little entertainment into his not so diversified school life.

"Aren't you interested in who will win their small war?" Fuji asked and made almost imperceptible head gesture pointing Atobe. The diva was still talking with Tezuka.

"I get your drift. What's the stake?" Oshitari accepted a challenge. He appeared to be honestly keen on that bet. He was truly interested in a plan that was just forming inside Atobe's head.

"How about two weeks of math homework?" Fuji suggested. For most people it would be quite a good price, but for both tensais it was rather symbolic. They could bet as well about a can of soda.

Suddenly Inui leaned out from behind. With his well-trained observing ability he noticed both, Atobe's smirk and Fuji's head motion.

"Probability that you two made another bet and need a judge is 100%." Inui stated.

Since those two geniuses started live in one apartment and get known each other better, data man became a judge in many their wagers. Of course he never did it disinterestedly. Thanks to them he was frequently supplied with many valuable data.

Inui opened his notebook and checked briefly last few pages.

"It seems that the score is 1-12 right now. Remember that you are not allowed to interfere." The data man announced. He knew what these two are capable of to get things their way. That was why he set that rule down so that Fuji and Oshitari would not interfere to sway the bet in their favor.

Inui shut his notebook and left the club house with the rest of tennis players, interested to see what Atobe and Ryoma will do.

xxx

"Gather around everyone." Usually this is a normal comment, but coming from Keigo, it just sounds weird.

"Today is your fortunate day. You have been granted to witness Ore-sama magnificent couching abilities" The diva announced looking at the club members.

"I believe it's what Atobe was talking about with Tezuka" Fuji said in lower voice to the other genius that was standing right next to him.

"Let see what he is up to" Oshitari responded, gazing at Atobe.

"First years prepare for ball gathering, second years get on the court D, seniors on the court C. Regulars courts A and B. Start the practice."

These were perfectly common instructions, so why Atobe was smiling?

All the club members divided into groups and dispersed into prescriptive courts. Only Atobe, Golden Pair, Jirou, tensais, Momo, Kaidoh and Echizen didn't budge waiting for further instructions. The diva came up to Inui to consult practice menu for today. Inui, the club's manager leafed through his notebook and ordered "Today we will practice serves." Everyone took their rackets and started to move towards a baseline.

"Oi, what do you need that racket for, brat?" Atobe sarcastically asked Echizen, when he noticed the dark-green hair boy pulling his gear out of his bag.

"According to you Monkey King, how am I supposed to practice serves without it?" Ryoma lifted his left hand, in which he was holding his red racket, and followed the rest of the team.

"Ore-sama do not recall you being a regular yet, ahn?" Atobe paused for a second giving other members time to proceed his words.

"Be a good kid and gather the balls which Ore-sama will send to the other side of the court. Ore-sama no bigi ni yoi na!" 3 He added. The perfect example of a smirk surfaced on Atobe's face.

Echizen looked at him in surprise. Less than two weeks ago he won the biggest US tennis tournament and now he has to gather the balls? So what that he isn't a regular? He will become one as soon as there will be intra-school matches. Atobe was right _but_... was he serious? That Monkey King was really getting on his nerves.

"Hmph" Ryoma huffed and put aside his racket. He will pay back Atobe at the earliest convenience.

"Hey Oishi. It's not fair. It's Ochibi. He is the champion. Atobe can't do that, nya?" Kikumaru frowned ready to tell fuku-buchou what he thinks about it.

"I'm afraid he can. And we can do nothing about it." Oishi seized red head player's arm lightly, trying to calm him down.

"Fsss, He is right. Echizen is not a regular member, so there is nothing we can do about it". Kaidoh hissed binding his green bandana.

"So this was Atobe's idea. Quite clever." Fuji praised the diva. Cunning. Nothing less should be expected.

"2-1 Atobe is leading" Inui took a pen out of his pocket and wrote down some notes in his book. He will have to prepare a second notebook, because concluding from Echizen's character Atobe won't lead for long.

"Prepare yourself Fuji, for doing double the amount of math homework" Oshitari smiled to his friend.

"Do not underestimate Echizen. I'm sure he will have his revenge" Fuji retorted sweetly. His soft, almost lilting voice would made many to freeze, but has no effect on the other tensai. Then he took his racket and walked to his to the end of the court.

Inui took a chalk and marked six circles in random spots inside a service boxes on both A and B courts. When finished, he stood up and went to the sideline.

"Atobe and Momoshiro" Inui announced the first pair of players who will practice.

Atobe with unconcealed satisfaction took up his position. He was going to show Echizen what happens when someone seek a quarrel with him.

On the other hand, spiky black head took his racket and reluctantly came to the baseline. He didn't want to participate in this exercise, knowing that his best friend will be a ball boy. _But it can't be helped, _Momoshiro thought looking at the nearby bench. There was a huge bottle filled with rather undefined, oddly green fluid. The latest data man's creation: Super Nutritious Penal Tea version 2.0. Judging by the smell and the color no one will endure drinking it. No one except Fuji of course. The tensai was exceptionally, almost inhumanly, immune to all those drinks.

"You've got 5 min to empty ball baskets." Inui pointed at the baskets full of tennis balls situated next to both players.

Few minutes later both Atobe and Momoshiro finished. Inui took a few notes and quickly calculated accurate hits.

"You passed" Inui announced to sophomore's distinct relief.

"Freshmen gather the balls." He added in a second.

Few boys, among them Ryoma, moved to the courts.

"Don't slack off Echizen" Atobe smirked at him. People around the courts were mumbling and pointing at the young tennis prince. It wasn't his happiest day.

Two hours later, when the practice was over, Tezuka and Tosaka-sensei came. All club members assembled in an instant.

"In four weeks time in our school will take place a field-day. I would like you to come up with some ideas for our club's contribution." Teacher's words resulted in a murmur between tennis players.

"Silence" Tezuka's imposed. His voice was promising laps till night if he has to repeat himself one more time.

"One more thing." Tosaka-sensei continued. "After consultations with Tezuka-kun I have decided to promote Echizen-kun for a regular member ." Ryoma and Atobe crosses their glances. The diva lost his trump card.

"Minna, good work for today. You are dismissed." The captain announced and everybody set off towards exit. Only cocky freshmen and haughty senior were still starring at each other. The repayment time was coming…

* * *

1. KAICHOU – what students call the student council president

2. Know why? 1. Atobe got cut while shaving was late for classes and got punishment

3. Be awed at the sight of my prowess!

**A/N****: **Revenge is sweet. Wait for the next chapter to see what Echizen will come up with! And please drop me a review. This is what an author needs to keep writing.


	4. Deuce

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**SPECIAL THANKS:** Sanz0girl for betaing.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R:** IsobelAnis, Sanz0girl, denizen of the night, HiKaRi-ChIbI, bibbiesparks, ryoka-chan

**A/N**:When I read your reviews I kinda think that I should have made this war a little longer. I'm really happy that already 29 people have added this story to their story alerts, but let me know what you think about and leave me a review.

In this chapter something special for Kaidoh's fans =)

* * *

**Chapter 4: Deuce**

-----

**_Previously on chapter _****_2:_**

"_One more thing." Tosaka-sensei continued. "After consultations with Tezuka-kun I have decided to promote Echizen-kun for a regular member ." Ryoma and Atobe crosses their glances. The diva lost his trump card._

"_Minna, good work for today. You are dismissed." The captain announced and everybody set off towards exit. Only cocky freshmen and haughty senior were still starring at each other. The repayment time was coming… _

-----

Echizen threw some coins into drinking machine and pressed number nine. A can of Ponta fell out. He has plenty of them in his room, but did not want to see his roommate.

"Oi, Echizen. We still have half an hour before the afternoon practice. Wanna come to my room?" Momoshiro asked. His best friend hadn't been there yet.

Ryoma looked at a nearby tree. The green grass beneath it was calling him. He would prefer to take a nap in the shadow, but there was no chance that Momo would leave him alone. Thus, he decided to accept an invitation.

"Mamushi shouldn't be in our room until after a practice, so he won't disturb." A taller boy announced when they were entering a dormitory.

"How it's possible that you two ended up as roommates Momo-senpai?" Echizen asked climbing on the stairs leading to the second floor.

"You should ask Fuji-senpai…" The spiky hair boy gave Ryoma meaningful glance. "Sometimes I really think that tormenting others gives him a pleasure."

Momoshiro opened the door to his apartment and both, he and Echizen entered. The table in the living room was all covered with variety of sports magazines and empty glasses. A kitchen was full of dirty dishes and pots. Echizen sniffed and wrinkled his nose at the stench. It seems that none of the apartment's residents threw out the rubbish. But that was just a beginning. When Momo opened the door to his room Echizen blinked.

The right half of the bedroom looked clean and tidy. A bed was made and the books were stacked up on the desk. A tennis jersey was hanging on a wardrobe's door.

The left half, however, looked like a war zone or like it had suffered a hurricane. Clothes were strewn literally everywhere. On the bed, floor, even on the desk. The same apply for books, magazines and other stuff. There were visibly two paths on the floor. One from the door to the bed. And the second from the bed to the desk.

Echizen was amazed. It looks that Momo and Kaidoh have totally different approach toward cleaning.

"I guess, Momo-senpai, that this your part of the room." Ryoma pointed the mess.

"Hehe, you've got me. I would have made some effort cleaning if I knew earlier that you are coming." The taller boy came up with an excuse. Unfortunately with a lame one.

"It was you, who invited me, remember?" Echizen remarked looking at his friend, who with one, fast move threw everything off the bed covering the path leading to the desk.

"Let's not argue about it." Momoshiro smiled and pointed a bed giving Ryoma a sign to take a seat.

"Better tell me what are you going to do to Atobe-senpai?"

"I don't know yet." Echizen shrugged his shoulders.

"What do you mean by ' I don't know'? You have to think about it, you have to." Momoshiro insisted.

Ryoma was looking at his best friend. There is no chance that he will spend all his days thinking about it. He will take an opportunity when it comes.

"Don't worry Momo-senpai. Monkey King is still mada mada dane." Echizen smirked.

Suddenly they heard some voice, coming from outside the room. Somebody was singing gently. Echizen stood up from the bed, opened the door and left the room, but nobody was there. He knit his brows and listened intently. It was coming from the kitchen. He moved closer. When he saw the source of the sound he tried to suppress a chuckle. Unfortunately, a few second later he laughed his head off. Standing in the middle of the kitchen was Kaidoh, wearing a kitchen-apron, wiping off the table. His face turned red. Some people could say that looked cute. If only Fuji could take a photo, he would have had a life-time supply of blackmail.

When Kaidoh finally overcame his blush, he hissed and a characteristic expression appeared on his face. It promised intense pain if any word, about what Echizen just have seen, came out of those four walls.

Ryoma understood this silent threat, turned around and left the apartment with Momo, who apparently was used to this view already.

A dozen or so minutes later the regulars entered the courts. Tezuka was talking with Inui leaving the club members some time for warm-up.

Atobe decided to use that moment for both improving his mood and letting his subjects experience his notice. He lifted his right hand and snapped his fingers. A big crowd around the courts followed his speechless order and started to chant in unision "Atobe, Atobe, Atobe"

"Be awed by Ore-sama magnificence" Atobe gave Echizen his emperor stare.

"Ore-sama is a king and those are my _loyal _subjects." He pointed at his large fan-club, still not letting his eyes out of Ryoma.

Echizen was unaffected. It wasn't the first time when he saw this whole show so it has no impact on him. Not that it ever had.

The crowd was chanting louder and louder "Atobe, Atobe, Atobe."

Suddenly, a stroke of genius popped into Echizen's head. He lifted his left hand, pinkie and ring finger folded, middle finger and thumb jointed, index finger upright .

"Does it look familiar for you, Monkey King?" he asked.

"You will not dare to do it" Atobe shuddered at the very thought of what happened during National's quarter finals when Echizen stole his final phrase.

"Try me" Echizen snapped his fingers. No hesitation at all. The crowd became still not knowing how to behave.

"The first 10 people to reach the tennis club house will receive my autograph." Ryoma added immediately. At least _half _of the group rushed in the given direction. Normally he would have never done something like that. He was avoiding his fans like flames. But this wasn't normal situation and required special actions. Some things are simply worth the pain.

"It seems that they are not as _loyal_ as you thought Monkey King." Ryoma smirked at Atobe and lowered his cap. He wanted to chuckle, but he had a reputation to uphold.

"See Oshitari. I told you not to underestimate Echizen." Fuji turned to his friend and patted him on the shoulder. His everlasting smile became really wide revealing how much fun the tensai was having .

"I apologize for my doubt." Oshitari replied watching the diva. "Atobe is looking really afronted." He remarked. The tensai saw disbelief in his old captain's eyes. His face darkened. It was like deja vu. Deja vu with double dose. _Heh, he must be embarrassed to death by now. But he would never admit it. Not even in million years. Good that at least he didn't lose his composure_.

"It's getting more and more interesting. Don't you think Iniu?" Fuji said to Kawamure's main data man, without even turning back to face him.

"It's a tie. 2-2. Diamond cut diamond." Inui announced not stopping writing thing down in his notebook.

"Mamushi, have you seen the same, that I think I have seen?" Momoshiro asked his archenemy not able to call properly what have just happened.

"Fsss." Kaidoh hissed in a tone of confirmation. He didn't even want to pick up a fight with his roommate right now. He was stunned.

"Hahaha. That little brat. Only he had the nerve to do something like that." Momoshiro started to proceed the whole situation and found it extremely amusing.

xxx

Later in the evening:

"Don't you dare use the bathroom tomorrow before me, Monkey King." Echizen warned his roommate. They were standing in the dormitory's lounge.

"Ore-sama will do as Ore-sama desired." Atobe responded. No one will tell him what he can and what he cannot do.

"Besides Ore-sama do not take any orders. Especially not from peasants" Atobe added looking at the lower boy.

"Ohhh, have you forgotten already what happened yesterday?" Ryoma teased. He knew that the diva wouldn't like to have another sticking plaster on his face.

"Are you trying to blackmail Ore-sama?" Echizen was starting getting on his nerves.

"Not at all Monkey King. I just wanted to refresh your memory."

"I see that this useless quarrel won't bring any solution. Therefore there is only one way out." Atobe stopped their argument. There was only one thing they could to in this situation.

"Downstairs, in fifteen minutes"

"I will be waiting. Do not run off Monkey King." Ryoma smirked, turned around and climbed the stairs.

"It's Ore-sama line." Atobe added before the other boy disappeared from his sight.

xxx

"Which?" Ryoma spun his racket.

"Rough." Atobe replied. The racket was twirling for a while before falling to the ground, with the 'R' upside down.

"Your serve, brat." Atobe stated.

"End." Echizen went to the baseline.

"Ore-sama do expect you to use you left hand. If you hold back you will not stand ten minutes on the court"

"Yadda." Echizen retorted, placing his racket in his less dominant, right hand.

"Fortunately I don't know how to hold back, Monkey King." Ryoma smirked. This is what his manager was telling him all the time.

"Mada, mada dane." He threw the ball up in the air and hit it with pinpoint perfection aiming the shot just next to his opponent's face.

"I'm not gonna fall for that, brat" Atobe exclaimed and returned the ball effortlessly. Echizen took a stance and used Kaidoh's trademarked Boomerang Snake. The shot gained an topspin offset that made the ball swerved out of the sideline, curved around the net pole and came to Atobe's end. In return he decided to use Tsubame Gaeshi that he have learnt during sparring matches with Fuji. He rolled the ball with his racket utilizing his opponent's topspin and returned it with an extreme slice that doubled the amount of spin. The ball was going dip toward the ground. Echizen had only one way out. He had to return it touches the ground...

"Wow! So it's really true. The match between fuku-buchou and Echizen." One of the sophomores observing the game stated.

"Both of them are serious from the get-go." Third year student commented watching Atobe and Echizen.

That kind of duel wasn't something you could see everyday. Not only because Ryoma, worldwide tennis star, just came to this school, but also because matches between regulars were strictly prohibited, unless announced by Tezuka-buchou or Tosaka-sensei.

Echizen and Atobe were oblivious to the world outside the court. They didn't even spotted how big audience they had by now. Not only club members but also other students from Tawamure's dormitories. Both girls and boys. The crowd managed somehow to divide into two fractions. One in favor of Atobe and one of Echizen. They were chanting their names, making quite a big racket.

Half an hour after the beginning of the match the result was only 1-1. Both players were gasping heavily. Their shirts were dripping with sweat. It wasn't an easy game. Each ball returned by one of them was followed by loud 'Ooohs' and 'Aaahs' from the crowd.

"Sugoi! Tannhauser Serve!" senior tennis club member shouted to his friend, grabbing his sleeve.

The ball served by Atobe was spinning rapidly down the court without bouncing on impact, making it hard to hit. Echizen landed on his right foot, used his famous Split Step to increase his speed and appeared exactly in the place were the ball was about to touch the court. He grabbed the racket with both of his hands and returned the ball. Atobe didn't hesitate even a second and used a Jack Knife, his powerful back-hand volley. Now the ball was flying really fast straight to the right corner. Echizen didn't budge even an inch. When almost everybody was wondering what is going on, the ball suddenly curved and came right to the younger player...

"Tezuka Zone?" Some people in the crowd were asking.

"No. It's Echizen zone." Inui corrected. As usually he popped out of nowhere.

"Their game is certainly impeccable." Fuji added. His crystal-blue eyes were wide open. He didn't want to miss any shot.

"And their level, without doubt, stick out and is way over high school tennis level." Oshitari stated. It was over two years ago when he last saw those two playing together. Their passion was clearly visible. Although since few days they were enemies number one, there was no sign of grimace or displeasure on their faces. Both of them were enjoying the game as they treasure tennis more than anything else.

...Ryoma returned the ball with ease. Atobe reversed a grip on his racket to backward and parried with Viking Horn. The ball after this recoil was unstable enough not to fall in Echizen Zone again. Ryoma on the run changed his racket back into his right hand and counter using a smash imitating his Twist Serve....

"Nitoryu!" A few people from the crowd shouted amazed. Those two were at their peak.

"Hoi, hoi. They are so into it, nya Oishi?" Kikumaru asked his doubles partner. His fingers tightly grabbing wire mesh around the courts.

"Yes, they both are really fired up. It's a great game, but I really think we should stop them. They are not allowed to play and when Tezuka will find out-"

"What will happen if I found out?" The captain asked calmly appearing behind the Golden Pair. Did he get this bad habit of popping up suddenly without any warning from Iniu?

Several feet farther Oshitari leaned toward Fuji and whispered to his ear.

"Wanna bet for can of soda how many laps will they get?"

"50" was Fuji short reply.

"More" Hurriedly declared spectacled genius, seeing that Tezuka was moving.

Captain passed through the crowd. Even people, he never met before, were making him space feeling the aura promising penalty if they don't. Tezuka entered a court, crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his throat.

"Atobe, Echizen 50 laps, now!" Tezuka imposed, catching everyone attention. Even those two players interrupted the match. They blinked and exchanged their looks not sure where exactly they are and why there is so many people around them.

"100 laps!" Tezuka imposed for the second time impatiently. This was enough to bring Ryoma and Atobe right to their senses. They dropped their rackets and started to run, before they earn even more laps. They already will finish them at night.

Tezuka sighed. He used to deal with the fighting Momoshiro and Kaidoh and now he had the second pair of trouble makers. The problem, however, was that they didn't simply fight with offensive nicknames or fists, they were far more sophisticated and they affected people around them too. Those two turned a minor argument into a major competition.

"It seems, that I almost won" Fuji said inserting coins into drinking machine. "Which?"

* * *

**A/N**: When I was about to start writing this fan fic I thought that I would never describe any match. And here we have one. Did you like it?

Please review.


	5. Favorite spot

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**SPECIAL THANKS:** Sanz0girl for betaing.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R:** IsobelAnis, ryoka-chan, roses-have-thorns911, chibi-mary-chan, denizen of the night, EchizenRyomaLover, xxSnowxxAngelxx

**A/N**:The next chapter is finally released. I hope you're looking to this =)

Read, review and

**E****NJOY !!!**

**

* * *

  
**

**Chapter 5: Favorite spot**

-----

**_Previously on chapter _****_4:_**

"_100 laps!" Tezuka imposed for the second time impatiently. This was enough to bring Ryoma and Atobe right to their senses. They dropped their rackets and started to run, before they earn even more laps. They already will finish them at night._

_Tezuka sighed. He used to deal__with the fighting Momoshiro and Kaidoh and now he had the second pair of trouble makers. The problem, however, was that they didn't simply fight with offensive nicknames or fists, they were far more sophisticated and they affected people around them too. Those two turned a minor argument into a major competition._

"_It seems, that I almost won" Fuji said inserting coins into drinking machine. "Which?"_

-----

"...seniors on the court C. Regulars courts A and B. Echizen and Atobe 40 laps. Start the practice." Tezuka announced and all club members dispersed into assigned courts. Even Echizen and Atobe, without a word of complaint, started to run prescriptive laps. They had only 35 minutes to accomplish it, so it wasn't that easy.

"Saa Tezuka. It seems that Inui had quite a good idea, don't you think?" Fuji asked watching how his two teammates tried to overtake one another, keeping with insane pace they imposed on themselves.

"Ah." The captain nodded. At last he could lead the practice without additional disturbances.

-----

_Two_ _weeks ago: _

_Tezuka_ _took a mug of a green tea, sat on a couch in his leaving room, opened a book and immersed in reading. He has at least one hour of peace. He has just ordered Atobe and Echizen 100 laps as a punishment for playing a match without a permission. _

_The time passed way too fast. The door opened with a loud snap and two totally exhausted and sweaty people entered the apartment. Gasping heavily they disappeared in the first room. Tezuka blinked. __Those two were unable to bear with each other for more than one minute. And here... __Voilà! Neither Atobe nor Echizen said a word. Tezuka closed the book and placed it on his laps. He was waiting patiently for loud voices announcing the next quarrel. But nothing like that has ever happened._

"_Do you mind if I stop by?" Inui was peering through the still open, doors._

_Tezuka nodded. The data man entered, closed the door behind him and sat on the chair beside the captain. The latter's face was still strained._

"_I don't think you will hear any argument today." Inui stated, pointing at the room no.1. _

"_Ahn." Tezuka agreed and relaxed a bit. If they didn't started yet, maybe they won't start at all. He wanted to hold on this thin thread of hope. "What did you want to discuss?" Tezuka applied to his club's manager._

"_You gave them 100 laps."_

_Tezuka nodded. _

" _With a high pace they should be able to finish them in about 1 hour 56 min, but thanks to their rivalry and obstinacy they did them in 1 hour 47 min." Inui announced, checking the data in his green notebook. He established this book on the evening when the regulars found out that Echizen and Atobe will be roommates and it was already half filled. The data man closed his eyes for a moment and listened in on surroundings, than made some calculations._

"_Noise level in your apartment has dropped by 80%. It seems that it's inversely proportional to their level of exhaustion." Inui stated after a while._

"_What you are implying Inui?" Tezuka was getting a little impatient. He was glad that his friend gather all those data, but the captain was rather interested in hearing a method that will help him to sooth those two, new trouble makers._

"_You should make them run laps at the beginning and eventually at the end of each practice setting a high pace. How about 40 laps in 35 min?" Inui suggested._

_Tezuka looked at his friend.__It was some kind of idea, but not necessary one he liked. _

"_I promise__I will consider__it."__The captain said and took a mental not to think about it later. _

_xxx_

_The next morning:_

"_What do you think you are doing brat?!"_

"_Do you have any problems with that, Monkey King?!"_

_Tezuka rubbed his temples. He was eating breakfast and __by a hair's breadth he would spit out a tea he was drinking, sitting by the kitchen's table.. To think that yesterday he had some objections to Inui's idea. It's true that his two best players will lose a quarter of each practice for running laps, but they are good at tennis. Really good. So it won't make any harm to them. Will it?_

_SLAM. Echizen left_ _his room and came to the kitchen. He didn't even greet his beloved buchou. Just took two bottles of milk and left the apartment. After three years of drinking it everyday, he was so used to it, that he couldn't start a day without them._

_Tezuka__looked at this scene and thought about yesterday's evening. Peaceful evening. There is no way he could stand this atmosphere any longer. He will make them laps. Even 100 if needed._

_-----_

"Everyone please assemble now. Good work today. Freshmen gather the balls and clean the courts. You are dismissed." Tezuka ordered when the practice was over. He looked at the club members. Today's practice was extremely tough as they tried Inui's new training menu. All regulars had to wear special power ankles. Two pounds each. At the beginning they were almost imperceptible, but as the practice was progressing they were getting heavier and heavier. Now all the regulars were gasping heavily.

Everybody were about to leave the courts when a certain cocky freshmen raised his head slightly to meet a gaze of grey hair fuku-buchou.

"Oh, an old man is tired." Echizen addressed his words to Atobe and smirked. His eyes became wider and one could think they were sparkling a little.

"Who did you call old, ahn?" Atobe asked. Everybody knew already where this conversation will lead to. Somehow it became their ritual after each practice.

"Ekhm." Tezuka caught. Echzien just called Atobe old and the captain and his vice-captain were born almost at the same time. Soon they were about to turn eighteen, but it's not the reason to call them old. Right?

"Don't mind Tezuka. I'm sure he didn't mean any harm." Oishi patted his friend on the shoulder. He has already turned eighteen over half a year ago and didn't take an offense.

"Oh... So you say that you have still enough strength to run 20 laps, Monkey King?" Echizen asked. He didn't even noticed Tezuka's cough or Oishi's remark. When he was chaffing with the diva he tended to lose contact with the environment. The same applied to Atobe.

"Ore-sama could run even 30 laps, brat." The diva took a challenge.

"The winner can use the bathroom tomorrow first." Echizen blurted out.

"Prepare yourself brat to being late for classes in the morning." Atobe replied.

"You wish." Ryoma and Keigo rushed through a gate.

Regulars, who knew them since middle school, were already used to their behavior. Non-regulars, however, were still stunned. The kaichou, admired by the whole school, always surrounded by the aura detesting any arguments and the tennis prodigy, present on billboards all over the world, were quarreling with each other like the little kids. Only they were able to talk to each other in this manner. But what was even more astonishing... _Where the hell they were taking all those energy from?! _

"Nya, Atobe and Echizen are fighting again." Kikumaru said to his double partner, looking at the two figures running head to head around the courts.

"They are always fighting." Oishi rectified.

"Yeah... but the relation between them seems get better each time they fight, don't you think?" Red head asked. Oishi took his racket and directed his steps towards a locker room. There was something in Kikumaru's words. Before those two were incapable of getting along even for a minute. It's not that they became friends now. They still quarrel, but it seems that a thin thread of agreement was starting to mold between them, however, it had a very unique form. As expected from the king and the prince. It seems that common sweating could make miracles.

"Saa Oishitari, don't you think that lately they are getting along with each other better?" Eiji wasn't the only one to made this observation. "It's getting boring. We should do something about it" Fuji smiled in this creepy way of his.

Oshitari raised his eyebrow. "Shall I ask what kind of devil plan is forming in this head of yours?" On the one hand he was a little curious what the other tensai was thinking, on the other hand, however, he was afraid to ask. Fuji tends to get more sadistic when he is bored. That's for sure.

"Sorry Oshitari, I have to talk to Tosaka-sensei for a while" Fuji excused himself and left his friend alone with his thoughts. _Whether it's going to be scary or not, surely it will be interesting._

xxx

The next day:

Echzien was wandering around the school looking for a place for a nap. It was to troublesome to go back to the dormitory.

In his explorations he reached third floor and still nothing. When he was about to resign and go outside the school building he spotted narrow stairs leading upstairs. At the top of them there were doors – entrance to the rooftop.

Echizen, not bothered at all by the sign, telling that the enter was forbidden, pressed a handle. Surprisingly the door opened and Ryoma felt a light, cool breeze on his face. The bright sunlight was jarring his eyes. It was almost noon.

Echizenclosed the door behind him, came to a rail and took a peek at the neighborhood. He could see all school's courts, fields and dormitories. Right behind the gate countless number of houses and stores were standing. During those two years Echizen almost forget how huge Tokyo was. He took a deep breath and scout around the rooftop. It was completely empty.

Hegot around the staircase, where the door to the rooftop were located, and found metal leader leading to the top of it. He climbed up, put his school bag on the ground and laid down himself. He used his bag as a pillow, lowered his cap to protect his eyes from the sun, crossed his arms behind his head and fell asleep. The last thing Ryoma have heard was faint sound of bell.

The same sound could be clearly heard around the school. The bell announced the beginning of the fourth period.

The English teacher came into class 1-4. He greeted his students, came to his desk and started to check attendance list. After readingall the names he moved his eyes to the last one.

"Echizen Ryoma"The teacher said.

_Silent._

"Echizen Ryoma" He repeated. Now his eyes were scanning the classroom looking for a prodigy's face, that was nowhere to be seen. The teacher checked the attendance list from the third period. Echizen was still present than, so where is he now? If the situation will occur more often in the future he will have to talk to class 1-4 homeroom teacher Obito-sensei. He understood that Echizen lived in America for most of his life and during past two weeks he was usually sleeping or scoping out the window during English classes, but attending the classes was his most important responsibility as a student. Hmm... he will deal with him later.

xxx

Meanwhileon the third floor:

"Atobe are you ditching again?" Oshitari asked when the diva was packing his things.

"Ore-sama is not ditching. Ore-sama has a lot of work with upcoming field-day."

"Of course." Fuji smiled.

Atobe didn't reply to the tensai's comment. He is _the_Atobe and he do not argue with peasants. With one exception lately...

Keigo took his bag and left the class. In the door he passed his teacher.

"Sensei" He greeted.

"Atobe-kun" The teacher nodded. He didn't even ask where his student was going.

Keigo left the classroom and directed his steps downstairs to the Students Council Room. He sat in his favorite arm-chair and turned on his laptop. He checked the stock exchange indicators. It was the very first thing he was doing while reading a newspaper or turning on a computer. _Good the situation is improving._To be honest he wasn't worry about the school field-day at all. Organizing such an event was for him like shooting fish in a barrel. What concerned him much more, was his company. Everybody knew that he was a heir to Atobe International, but nobody was aware that, starting from his freshman year in high school, he was running his own business as well.

It was a policy that his father established. Keigo received a car with a chauffeur, could use all the mansions, together with the servants, that Atobe family possessed, however, he did not get any allowance at all. For each expense he had to pay with the money earned by himself. And he was well-known for his expensive taste and generosity when it comes to his teammates. It was Atobe himself, who sponsored club's new locker room and last year's summer training camp. But nobody knew about it.

Keigo closed his eyes for a while. Today he will have a very tough evening. He has to decide, whether or not, to buy shares of a company, he set his eye on before. Due to an unfavorable situation on the financial market this decision will be crucial for both, his business and his own finances.

Atobe took a deep breath and stood up. He had to aerate his mind a bit. He left the Students Council Room and headed towards his favorite spot. When he reached his destiny Atobe felt nice and warm September's wind in his grey, perfectly arranged hair. He took several steps forth. The door closed with a loud smash pushed by the wind. Atobe walked up to the rail and slacked off his tie. He really liked this place. Since the principal forbid the entrance here, Atobe had the whole rooftop to himself.

He reached into the pocket in his shirt and took out his favorite, just second after tennis, stress-release. He unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth. _Mmmm so sweet._

Atobe sat on the ground, his back resting against the rail. He closed his eyes and focused on the sweet taste spreading inside his mouth.

...

The sound of snapping door woke Echizen up from his dream. He, however, decided not to get up and rolled on his right side trying to go back to his roughly interrupted dream. He was dreaming about a match. Very tough one, which in his dictionary was practically a synonym for enjoyable.

It was hard to admit it, but Ryoma was missing the matches with his baka oyaji and Kevin. He respected Tezuka-buchou a lot, but he didn't like his practice policy. By not allowing matches between regulars, he was killing the biggest joy of tennis itself. Echizen was already sick of those normal trainings, even if sometimes practice menu prepared by Inui couldn't be considered as normal. He was glad that he could play at least Atobe two weeks ago. It was worth those hundred laps. _Damn Monkey King is good._

Echizen was laying motionless for a while with his eyes closed. He tried no to think about a person who just entered the rooftop, but in the end curiosity killed the cat. Ryoma rolled one more time to reach the edge of the staircase he was lying on. He opened his eyes and saw a student sitting on the ground. Oh, wait... it wasn't _just_ a student. It was, talk of the devil, Atobe Keigo himself... sitting on the floor and... sucking something? Echizen frowned.

"I had no idea that you like such a peasant's food, Monkey King." Ryoma tossed the words to Atobe, mocking him.

Keigo surprised to hear anyone here, tilted his head up only to meet hazel, golden eyes fixed on him. Before he could answer, the young tennis star added "Hmm, lollipop. Interesting choice."

Atobe recovered quickly from a little shock Echizen presented him and stated "Low sugar level." Ryoma didn't look like someone who would believe this lie so Keigo added quickly "You are not allowed to be here, brat."

"Same apply to you" Ryoma smirked. Somehow Atobe didn't look like his usual self with his tie in a disarray, first button of the shirt undone and a lollipop in his mouth. _He looks like a nice guy when he is not talking._

"You left your guard down, Monkey King" Echizen stated and smirked still gazing at this unusual view.

"Why are you skipping classes brat?" Atobe asked. He came here to relax and didn't want to pick another meaningless word-fight with his roommate. Maybe for a change he will try just to talk with this cocky freshman.

"I've got English now, so I've decided that sleeping here is more comfortable that in the classroom" Echizen replied and smiled a little. Yes, smiled not smirked. Why was he even obliged to attend those classes?

"Do you have more Atobe?" Ryoma asked pointing a stick poking out of Keigo's mouth. The latter choked. How did he just called him? By his surname?

"Oi, for you it's Atobe-sama or Atobe-senpai, Echizen-kun." He emphasized the last word. He will teach him good manners.

"Che, whatever."

Ryoma had just came back from America not long ago and still wasn't used to all those Japanese suffixes. He preferred to be called by his first name, but he couldn't just tell Atobe to do so. He could misinterpret his intentions easily.

Atobe reached to his shirt's pocket and took out one more chupa-chups.

"Cocoa vanilla flavor." Keigo stretched out his hand, holding a sweet.

Echizen smiled even wider. His favorite. _Maybe that Monkey King doesn't have such a bad taste after all._ But no way would he admit it loud. He would rather drink Iniu's latest invention than inflate an already huge ego - Atobe's ego.

Ryoma took his bag and chose the fastest way down. He jumped. When he landed he pursed his eyebrow. With his cat-like agility, the height was nothing special to him, but if he, knock on wood, do something to hurt his legs, his manager wouldn't knock him off even for a minute.

After scolding himself in his mind for a while Ryoma came up to Atobe and took the lollipop. He sat next to the older boy and unwrapped it.

They were sitting in silence, relishing warm weather, peace around them and the sweet taste in their mouths.

"Are you moving out?" Echizen turned his head to Atobe, still licking his lollipop.

"What are you talking about? It's Ore-sama room, and Ore-sama is not going to leave it."

"You haven't come back yesterday so I hoped-"

"You sure got brat like temper." Nobody would have guts to talk to him like that. And this guy sitting next to him was totally unmoved by his magnificence and was quarreling with him on a daily basis. _Unbelievable._

Surprisingly it was a beginning of over half an hour conversation. Who would suspect them to be able to do it?

The school bell rang again. Echzien stood up. It was lunch break already and he promised Kikumaru-senpai he will join them for lunch.

"I've never thought that anybody can have a normal conversation with you, Monkey King." They were talking mostly about tennis, but anyways it was what interested Echizen most.

"It was Ore-sama line, brat." Atobe stood as well and started to adjusting his tie and shirt. "We shall go back to our usual selves now."

"See you at the practice, Monkey King." Ryoma U-turned and raised his right hand in a gesture of farewell. Atobe smirked.

xxx

"Assemble everyone" Tezuka imposed after the warm up was done.

"What do you think?" Eiji asked his teammates pointing Ryoma and Keigo, who were finishing their last lap.

"Atobe" Oshitari bet on his former captain.

"Echizen. Today he was leading most of the time." Momoshiro supported his best friend.

"I agree. Echizen" Oishi agreed.

"Atobe"Fuji smiled innocently.

"Oi, Fujiko you should support Ochibi more" Kikumaru frowned and rebuked his friend in his thoughts.

Now both regulars and non-regulars were observing carefully the scene behind the wire fence. Atobe and Echizen were running nip-and-tuck. They just passed the last bend and got to the homestretch. Few more steps and... a tie?

Everybody's eyes turned towards Inui. The data man adjusted his glasses trying to prolong this moment of triumph a little longer. Everyone in the club was waiting for his opinion. Inui gloated over this situation few more seconds and announced "Atobe." Fuji and Oshitari made a fist bump.

"Oi Echizen, I lost my tomorrow's dessert because of you. You cannot do this to me, you cannot!" Momohiro was yelling, while Keigo and Ryoma were trying to catch at least a little air.

When everyone was together again Inui took the floor.

"On the special req

* * *

uest from Tosaka-sensei..." both Inui and Oshitari gave Fuji quick, suspicious glance "...we are holding an unusual training today." All regulars paled. If Inui have prepared the practice menu it would be safer to run laps till the night than take part in it. Definitely.

Inui, unaffected by their behavior continued "Each regular should draw one paper pellet out of the box. Do not open it until everybody has one."

Fuji came to the bench where the box was placed and lifted it. He shook it a few times and let Tezuka allot one, squashed paper ball. Than he walked around letting each regular to pick one, assuring beforehand that the order of players, he planned, was preserved.

"You can chose one for me too." Fuji smiled when he approached Oshitari. The other tensai immersed his hand inside the box and was stunned for a second's fraction. He was expecting to feel four balls, since Atobe and Echizen still hadn't draw theirs. Oshitari, however, didn't show any sign of surprise on his face and pulled out remaining two pellets. Fuji smiled knowingly and turned to Ryoma and Keigo.

"Is that Tachibana-san and Keiichi-san?" Oshitari asked pointing to two girls coming up to the courts. It was enough to draw everyone's attention and enough for Fuji to slip imperceptibly two paper balls from his sleeve to the box, before he reached Echizen and Atobe.

"You can unwrap them" Iniu announced. Loud gulping could be heard.

Tezuka dared to do it first. He was the captain and had to encourage his players. He looked at the paper for a while and stated:

"Four."

* * *

**A/N**: Hmm... did you know from the beginning that I was writing about a lollipop? Hope you like it. At first I was thinking about a cigarette instead of the lollipop, but I thought that Atobe woudn't smoke, coz it would be bad for his perfect complexion =p

Let me know what you think and drop me a review.


	6. Disaster

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**SPECIAL THANKS:** Sanz0girl for betaing.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R:** DarkAndStormyNight, HiKaRi-ChIbI, denizen of the night, Lady Monozuki, EchizenRyomaLover, IsobelAnis, roses-have-thorns911, misaki, TQWEE, Shelby, - rozardoll., Rika-chi

**A/N**:I'm so you for all your reviews everyone. They are the best reward for writing, which, by the way, takes me a lot of time and effort.

Ok, here comes the next, quite a long, chapter.

**ENJOY !**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Disaster**

-----

_Previously on chapter 5:_

"_Is that Tachibana-san and Keiichi-san?" Oshitari asked pointing two girls coming up to the courts. It was enough to draw everyone's attention and enough for Fuji to slip imperceptibly two paper balls from his sleeve to the box, before he reached Echizen and Atobe. _

"_You can unwrapped them" Iniu announced. Loud gulping could be heard. _

_Tezuka dared to do it as a first. He was the captain and had to encourage his players. He looked at the paper for a while and stated:_

"_Four."_

-----

"Three" Oishi read the number on his paper. He was the mother-hen of Tawamure and felt it was his obligation to follow Tezuka closely.

"Five?" Eiji asked, looking at his roommate, not sure what those numbers meant.

"Oi, Oishi-senpai I have three too!" Momo exclaimed when he unwrapped his paper ball.

"Fsss one" Kaidoh hissed and looked around.

"Two" Atobe said, displeased with his number. He was _the_Atobe and should have had number one no matter what it concerns.

"Awww, got five too." Jiroh yawned. Somebody woke him up a while ago and the current commotion was enough to keep him awake.

"Four" Oshitari stated passing the other ball to Fuji, who unwrapped it and said "One." The tensai smiled then to his snake-like junior. Till now everyone, besides Momoshiro, deduced which number Echizen '_draw'._

"Oi Echizen, check your number already!" Momo exclaimed to his friend. Everybody's eyes turned towards the young tennis star.

"Yadda."

From the very beginning Ryoma had a very bad feeling about it.

"Saa, why don't you check it Echizen? It's a mere formality." Fuji smiled innocently.

Ryoma gave his senpai a warning glance. There was a high chance that his evil senior has something to do with this whole training.

Few seconds later Echizen unwrapped his lot and said "Two." His voice remained motionless. No surprise at all.

"Good." Inui smiled lightly "Greet your new doubles partners." The data man adjusted his glasses and wrote the pairings on the flipchart beside him.

Everyone mixed up, so they could stay next to their partners. Almost all of them were content from the result of the drawing. Almost.

"Ore-sama won't be partner with him!"

"I won't be partner with him!" Two voices exclaimed at the same time.

"Look, you guys even say the same thing." Kikumaru commented refraining Jiroh from falling into lethargy.

Ryoma and Atobe twitched in unison, for once was such a rare view.

"Yadda."

"Completely impossible."

"Zero possibility."

"But you know... there must be something in it." Momo stated rubbing his chin thinking hard about something. "Seriously. The probability that the last two balls you took will have the same number is like one to... eeeh... eeeh..." The spiky head boy looked at their club's data master seeking for help.

"Is 1 to 14." Inui calculated promptly. His sight landed on former Seigaku's tensai. Fuji smiled lightly in reply.

"As you know we are short in doubles, so we are going to improve our cooperation today." Inui proclaimed. "You will be divided into two groups, three teams each."

"But –"

"Yes Momo, forestalling your question, I know that there is only ten of you, so I've invited girls' team number one doubles pair Keiichi-san and Tachibana-san." Inui explained.

Momoshiro eyes became wider when he was looking at his girlfriend and her captain entering the courts. She looked so beautiful in those half-thigh length, black shorts and white polo shirt. He couldn't take his eyes off her. Unfortunately for Momo, not only he.

"An-chan, Kei-chan!" Kikumaru was calling, waving to the girls. It was such a rare view to see them here.

"Keiichi-buchou."

"Tezuka-buchou" Both captains exchange greetings.

When everybody quieten Iniu continued with his explanations. "As I mentioned before, you are divided into two groups." He took a marker and wrote on the flipchart. "Group number one: Kikumaru-Jiroh, Oishi-Momoshiro and Fuji-Kaidoh pairs. Group two: Tezuka-Oshitari, Echizen-Atobe and Keiichi-Tachibana pairs."

"I can't fight against girls."

"Do not underestimate us Echizen". Keiichi approached Ryoma and challenged him quietly with her gaze. She was in her third year in Fudomine Middle School when she saw Momo and Echizen during their fatal double match. She couldn't do anything but laugh how bad their cooperation was.

"She is right Echizen." Oishi nodded.

"Kei-chan and An-chan are really good at doubles." Fuji added.

Meantime Inui finished drawing tournament tables and turned back to the club members.

"Within each group you are going to play short matches. The winner is the pair that first achieve four gems." The data man checked, if he received satisfying number of nods from the regulars before continuing. "Teams with the least number of acquired gems within each group will be playing one set match at the end of the practice. The pair that will lose the final game will receive a special punishment and will be the first to try my latest vitamin juice, so please look forward to this." Inui pointed the bottle behind him. The shadow of fear appeared in most of the regular's eyes. The will do anything necessary in order not to become guinea pigs for their manager.

"Ok lets start. Pairs 1 and 3 court A, pairs 2 and 4 court B" Tezuka took an initiative,lifted his racket and headed to a further court.

Hearsay about intra-matches spread around the whole school like a lightening and now not only non-regulars but also other student were occupying the grounds around the _battlefield_. It was hard for them, however, to decide which matches they prefer to see.

"Make certain that you will not be in my way during the game, Monkey King." Ryoma smirked at his doubles partner walking to their court's end.

"It is you who should not interfere in Ore-sama game. Ore-sama always wins, so will do this time too." Keigo retorted.

"Yeah right." Echizen smirked even wider. "Unless you play against me." He was referring to quarterfinals' match over two years ago when Atobe lost his hair. "But don't worry I won't lose even if I'm paired with you." He continued to insult his roommate. Somehow those offenses became their own way of communication. Any other people could feel really touched by those words, but not those two.

"It's you brat who got the honor to be paired with Ore-sama." Keigo replied.

Echizen was about to retort when a voice belonging to a certain, very annoyed by now, captain could be heard alongside the courts. "Can we start already?" He should have had ordered them more laps at the beginning of the practice. It seems that their condition improved and 35 laps is not enough anymore.

"Hmph." Both Echizen and Atobe huffed and went to their positions.

Fourty minutes later both their matches were over. They barely won 2 games. One against Tezuka-buchou and Oshitari and one against the girls. The crowd around the

court was totally stunned and shocked. They couldn't take their eyes out of those two usually enormous players. The two limitless monsters were bitten down to earth. How it's even possible that they suck at doubles so much?

The atmosphere on Atobe's and Echizen's half of the court was pretty tense. Those two were standing backwards to themselves after another fight. Each of them laid the blame for the defeat on each other.

"I told you not underestimate us." Girls' team captain said proudly stretching out her arm above the net to shake hands with their latest opponents.

"Keiichi-san –"

"Just Kei-chan is fine." The taller girl interrupted him.

"Kei-chan" Echizen started once again "Next time I'm gonna win."

"Looking forward to it." She smiled in reply.

"My, my. They are funnier than I thought. They raised above all my expectations." Fuji said to Oshitari. The tensai hadn't so much fun for a long time, although Echizen's and Atobe's behavior could be considered very entertaining. It seems that Fuji have found a new hobby. Heaven help the objects of his interest.

When all the matches within each group were over Inui announced which teams _advanced_to the second round.

"In ten minutes we will start the final match. Kikumaru-Jiroh pair who gained 6 games against Atobe-Echizen pair who won two games." The data man announced and made some important notes in his notebook. Even he didn't expect such a bad performance from the latter pair. According to his data they should be able to win at least 4 games. And here, we have a surprise.

When Momoshiro have heard that his best friend lost to his lovely An-chan he couldn't help, but to poke fun at them. His jokes met with a cold glare from Atobe. Echizen, however, wasn't as sophisticated as his partner and he stepped without any hesitation on Momo's foot making himself clear that the older boy should simply shut up, unless he would like to suffer later.

"Oi Echizen you have no respect for your senpai!" The spiky hair boy exclaimed massaging his leg. It's good that he managed to backspace it a little at the last second, otherwise it could be really dangerous.

"Shall we start the last match?" Inui asked heading to the referee seat.

Kikumaru and Jiroh were already at their positions. The latter was bouncing even more than Eiji. He always had a great pleasure playing against his former buchou and now he could be up also against a player who defeated both Seigaku and Hyoteiformer captains.

"Oi, I'm sooo excited that I can play against you. I'm really, really happy. Let's have a good match." Jiroh bounced to the net. His wide smile could be easily compared with a medium size banana.

Unfortunately his words didn't reach neither Atobe nor Echizen. They were already in a duel mode. Pity that again with each other. On the other hand, however, they were always in this mode when together.

"Which?" Ryoma spun his racket when finished his quarrel with Atobe. They were intimidated with Inui's juice.

"Rough." Kikumaru replied. The racket was twirling for a while before falling to the ground, with the 'R' upside down.

"Serve." Red head boy stated with a smile.

"End." Echizen went to the baseline.

"Prepare yourself Ochibi for the next stiff." Kikumaru smiled to his kohai.

"Mada mada Eiji senpai." Echizen smirked and gave his usual reply. This time however he wasn't sure how the match will end. They lost already two times. This unpleasant feeling didn't give him a peace mind. The only person he was losing to was his baka oyaji. Fortunately, since he awaken Ten'i Muhou no Kiwami he had fifty percent chance of winning.

Jiroh went to the base line and adjusted the grip on his racket. He bounced a ball couple of times trying to overcome his excitement even a little. He threw then the ball high in the air and served. The ball flew across the net. Atobe returned it effortlessly aiming for the right corner. The ball, though, never met it's destination. Kikumaru intercepted it, twisting his hand at the weird ankle behind his back. He sent the ball back, into the most critical place on the other side of the court. The ball was flying right into the middle line. Both Echizen and Atobe rushed to return it. Few more steps and…

_BANG_

Two rackets flew away out the baseline and two boys sat on the ground, massaging their butts.

"Didn't they learn anything up till now?" Oshitari shook his head. Normally he wouldn't believe if someone would tell him that he would see his distinguish former captain sitting on the dirty ground. It was simply beyond an imagination. But because of the events during the last three weeks, different things were able to surprise him systematically less and less. Especially, if one cocky freshman was involved.

"Agh, what are you doing brat? It was Ore-sama's ball." Atobe exclaimed dusting off his shorts.

"Are you blind Monkey King? It was _clearly_ my ball."

"You should better wipe your eyes ."

"Hoi, hoi don't argue so much. Next time you will do better." Kikumaru tried to head of the conflict.

Atobe lifted his racket and went to the baseline ready to return the next serve. Echizen took his place closer to the net. On the other half of the court Eiji was giving his partner last few advices. He was playing doubles for six years now and could synchronized himself pretty well with any partner.

Jiroh nodded couple of times and prepared himself to serve. He tossed the ball in the air and hit it , giving it a heavy underspin. As expected from Atobe, this time too, he had no problem with return. He moved his grip a little up and hit the ball reversing it's spin. The ball went really high and somewhere in the middle of the opponent's court started to slope down rapidly. It hit the ground, but instead of bouncing highly towards the baseline it curved and flew to the sideline.

Kikumaru jumped trying to reach it, but he didn't succeed. Thank God, that Jiroh had a hint where the ball would go, so he was able to hit it. Good that he return it, bad that the ball was now going straight to Echizen. The young tennis star switched the racket to his right hand and hit the ball. It touched the ground just next to Kikumaru's right foot, making the shot very difficult to return.

"Oi, oi Ochibi!" Eiji exclaimed jumping up into the air giving himself more space to manipulate his racket. He lifted his right leg, right arm behind it and returned the ball giving a nice demonstration, which gained him a loud applause, of his acrobatic skills.

Now the ball, once again, was flying exactly into the line between Atobe and Echizen. One could expect that after previous fatal crash none of them would approach the ball. But how wrong that thinking is when we are talking about the two stubborn and arrogant teenagers. None of them hesitate at all. The result was easily to predict.

Echizen was laying underneath Atobe, their arms tangled up. The young tennis star was trying to get out of under his roommate, while the other was coughing trying to get rid of the green hair from his throat.

Whereas those two unexceptional players were trying to untangle themselves very discontent about the whole situation, the crowd was just on the cloud nine. The were crying, laughing, crowing and whistling. Any possible positive reaction.

Few insults later Atobe and Echzien finally managed to stand on the court again like nothing has ever happen.

"One game to love." Inui announced putting his notebook aside. "Echizen to serve."

Ryoma went to the baseline and put the racket in his less dominant, right hand. It was their chance to equalize the score. He prepared himself for his trademarked and most notable Twist Serve. He brought this shot to perfection.

Echizen tossed the ball up in the air and hit it with a pinpoint perfection aiming for the opponent's face. If everything went according to the plan Jiroh senpai would have almost no chance of returning the serve. If it only would go as planned…

The ball served by Ryoma was approaching the net quickly. It was at the same time when Atobe decided that he should improve his position a little, so he could reach the ball more easily just in case, if Jiroh would return the serve with his unnaturally flexibly wrist and inborn, pure luck. Not even a second later he felt a terrible ache and the warmth spread along his back. The ball rolled to his foot. _It is impossible. It couldn't have happened. Not to me. _He turned over slowly to meet wide open golden eyes. Echizen smirked, trying to cover his amusement and pulled his cap lower. They were losing once again, but Atobe's face expression was just priceless.

"Ehh.. Gottcha?' Echizen asked innocently.

"Brat!" Keigo growled.

The crowd wailed. Cooperation. It seems that this word didn't exist in Ryoma's and Keigo's dictionary when it comes to tennis. And when to give it a second thought, not only when it's about tennis. The air on the one side of the court became rather tense.

"Must be nice to be someone who has no sense of fear." Keiichi commented the whole situation.

"Yeah." Momo nodded.

"Regret you haven't seen them during past weeks Kei-san." Fuji added.

"Inui is it ok to make notes instead of calling a point?" Tosaka-sensei asked. She just stepped into the courts to check how the special training was progressing. She was expecting to see a whale of a game not a parody.

"Ekhm" Inui shut his notebook trying to remember as much data as possible and announced "Fifteen to love."

Atobe snorted and went back to his position. He will pay that brat back. But not at this moment.

Twenty minutes later the situation was really bad. Ryoma and Keigo were losing already four games to one. Their opponents even managed to win few no-touch return aces. It was a last call to reverse the tables.

Atobe let his doubles partner to take care of the ball flying into their direction while he himself wrapped his left arm around his belly, placing his hand on his hip. He used his left arm as a rest for his right arm. He put his right hand against his face and activated his insight. He went into Koori no Sekai, a technique that allows him to see his opponent's dead angles. At once the picture of icy crystals appeared in Atobe's mind. He choose one of them and sent there the next ball that came to their court. He forgot, however, that he was playing doubles and didn't predict that Echizen will come in the way of the ball.

_BANG_

This time Echizen turned around slowly holding his shoulder. A small smirk appeared on Atobe's face, but inside he was chuckling really hard. He couldn't show it however, because he was _the_ Atobe. And Atobe do not chuckle. At least not in public.

"Yaro." Ryoma hissed, approaching his doubles partner. "You did that on purpose."

"Ore-sama would never condescend to this level." Keigo replied proudly. He regained already his composure. He has to keep certain standard.

"They are still mada, mada dane." Fuji smiled mocking their freshman ace.

Momoshiro bit his lips trying not laugh, but when he saw his girlfriend giggling, he couldn't hold it any longer, and laughed his head off. He will run away from Atobe and Echizen later on.

The two mentioned above, were standing now really close to each other challenging themselves with their gaze. They were losing miserably once again. Definitely they have pull themselves together and do something about it.

"I will take care of the rest, so wait on the sideline." Atobe announced his partner.

"No Monkey King. I will take care of it, so you'd better not to barge in." Echizen raised his head and met dark-blue eyes.

It will be very hard for them to find a solution. It seems that compromise is the next word that do not exist in their dictionaries.

Tosaka sensei seized her head and shook it in disbelief. How the hell Tawamure was supposed to survive, when two of their top players couldn't even breath the same air, not to mention play together. No matter how you look at it, they weren't meant for doubles.

Atobe and Echizen were quarreling for a while now, when the gray-hair boy said something that completely knocked Ryoma of his feet.

"Maybe you will not believe it brat, but it's a little hard for Ore-sama to work in a group."

The younger boy was shocked. Keigo has a very serious look.

_No kidding Monkey King _was what he thought, but "Me too" was what he said loud.

Doubles is game played by two people. And that was exactly what they tried to achieve when they eventually decided that it would be mutually beneficial for them to work together from now on. They united against the common enemy, but it was already too late. They managed to win few more points, but the whole match ended six games to three. They lost. Again.

At least they tried. It wasn't easy, but since when cooperation between them was supposed to be easy?

"Luckily we won't have to drink that terrible juice." Kikumaru smiled to his partner. Jiroh was already sleeping on the nearby bench. This match wasn't as excited as he was expecting.

"Good work everyone." Tezuka addressed club members. "You are dismissed. Atobe, Echizen..." he nodded on his two best players "wait a little. Inui prepared for you a special penalty."

"Tezuka, I think it would be wiser to let them take a shower first." The data man cast his eye knowingly over Fuji.

The captain agreed, but if the former Seigaku tensai was involved in it, he didn't want to now anything. "Very well. We will meet here then in fifteen minutes. Fall out."

Quarter of an hour later all regulars gather on the courts once again. Fortunately for Atobe and Echizen the crowd around disperse already. Till now everyone have heard about Inui's inhuman creations. He even blew up a kitchen in his apartment last year experimenting with a new formula.

"First the juice." Inui twisted of a cap of the flask he was holding in his left hand, then poured two full glasses. All the regulars moved two steps backwards, leaving Atobe and Echizen face to face with this unidentified dark green liquid.

"Don't worry." Inui encouraged his guinea pigs. "This juice contains highly nutrient green vegetables such as brussel sprout, broccoli, aubergine, zucchini and spinach, to mention at least a few."

Now regulars' faces took a color that slowly was resembling the one of the juice.

"Ne, Oishi-senpai. Does the vegetables Inui-senpai just listed really exist?" Momo asked.

"Few of them for sure." The mother-hen nodded, knitting his brows. He was already very concerned about his team-mates. But Inui wouldn't give them anything inedible, would he?

Atobe and Echizen took the glasses and stared at their repulsive content. It's better to do it quickly. If they survive it, the second part of the punishment will be like smooth sailing. They took few, deep breaths and drank it out at once. It tasted even worse than it looked. This feeling was so disgusting, that soon both of them passed out, slipping down to the ground.

Inui approached them to check if they are unconscious. " Seat them on the bench. Atobe on the left and Echizen on the right." He ordered and came up to his bag. When he found what he was looking for he get back to the regulars.

"Inui-senpai you don't mean to... Right?" Momo's voice get stuck in his throat, when he saw what his senior was holding.

"You are not serious Inui, are you?" Kikumaru asked disbelieving his eyes .

"Yare, yare it doesn't look good for them." Oshitari added.

"Fsss."

Tezuka adjusted his glasses. He will have to spend the whole afternoon and the evening in the library. No way he will bear with Atobe and Echizen... together... like that...

* * *

**A/N**:So what do you think? Please leave me a review.

The temperature in the next chapter is going up really high =) Look forward to this.


	7. Punishment

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**SPECIAL THANKS:** Sanz0girl and awintea for betaing.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R: **TQWEE, HiKaRi-ChIbI, Sanz0girl, xxSnowxxAngelxx, DarkAndStormyNight, Rika-chi, EchizenRyomaLover, - rozardoll., misaki, FujiSyusuke1995

**A/N**:As promised the temperature in this chapter is going up and Keigo and Ryoma are finally becoming closer.

**ENJOY !**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Punishment**

**_-----_**

_Previously on chapter 6:_

_Inui approached them to check if they were unconscious. "Seat them on the bench. Atobe on the left and Echizen on the right," he ordered and went to look through his bag. When he found what he was looking for he returned to the regulars._

"_Inui-senpai you don't mean to... Right?" Momo's voice got stuck in his throat, when he saw what his senior was holding._

"_Nya, are you serious Inui?" Kikumaru asked_ _disbelieving his own eyes__._

"_Yare, yare it doesn't look good for them." Oshitari added._

"_Fsss."_

_Tezuka adjusted his glasses. He wouldl have to spend the whole afternoon and_ _the __evening in the library. No way would he bear with Atobe and Echizen... together... like that..._

_-----_

Inui approached the bench where Atobe and Echizen were sitting and looked at his two unconscious teammates. He grabbed the older boy's left hand. _Clang._ The metal bracelet closed on Keigo's wrist. Inui then turned to the right and did the same with Ryoma's right hand. Now they were connected with the special, custom-made handcuffs, ordered expressly for today's punishment. The chain was about four feet long, giving enough space to move easily, but only if they cooperated.

Now was the time for praying. Most of the regulars closed their eyes and lowered their heads thanking God that they didn't take the last place during today's training.

_Click, click._

"What are you doing Fuji-senpai?" Momoshiro asked the tensai who had just taken a few shots with his cell phone.

"Preserving memories," he replied softly attaching the photos to an e-mail.

(Translation for those who do not know Fuji well: " Silly, of course I'm gathering blackmail material.")

Meanwhile Inui went to his bag once again and came back with a small box in his hand. He opened it and a strong scent came out. The data man covered his nose and lowered it slowly to Atobe and Echizen.

"Inui what are you trying to do? Is it safe? I hope it's not harmful." Oishi was getting even more nervous.

"Don't worry Oishi. Those are only smelling-salts. I want to wake them up." The data man explained pointing at the two unconscious boys. Unfortunately his answer didn't calm his friend at all. If those salts were made by Inui, it could probably wake up the dead.

_Cough. Cough. Cough. _

Atobe and Echizen regained their senses really quickly when they felt the irritating smell that was scratching their throats. Keigo got his bearing back first, since he had been dealing with Inui's creations for almost three years now. He stood up abruptly.

"What-" he started, but couldn't finish. He felt on the ground, Echizen on the top of him.

_-----_

_Ryoma felt a strong scent of some kind of herb. He was starting to recall what happened earlier. He opened his eyes, still feeling dazed, and before he could do anything some strong force pulled his wrist. He stood up against his will only to fall a second later. But what was that beneath him? It wasn't the ground. He clearly felt something soft on his face. And this nice and sweet smell of... lotus? He could recognize this scent pretty well, since one of his crazy fans has sent him a bouquet of those flowers every week during past two years. But since when were there lotus flowers on the school courts? _

_Echizen found a supporting point for his hand and tried to get up._

_----- _

"Oi brat! What the hell are you doing?" Atobe exclaimed when he felt a hand pressing against his precious butt.

He turned around trying to throw off Echizen. He didn't realized yet, that they were bound together, so instead of releasing himself, he fell flat on his back with the brat on his chest. But why can't he see anything?

_Whistle. Clack. _

Once again the courts were surrounded by an enormous number of people. In the boarding school news spread in a blink of an eye. Especially if a certain genius spread them.

_Claps._

Fuji took another photo. It was good that he hadn't put aside his camera. He had a feeling that the fun was about to start now.

Oishi fainted and Kikumaru lost completely his voice. The only thing he could do was stare. Momoshiro and Kaidoh had apparently decided to compete to see whose blush will be bigger and redder. Oshitari pulled out his phone and took a few shots himself. He could exchange them with Fuji later. Tezuka, however, remained as stoic as ever. It's good that no one could see what was going on inside him. He coughed, giving Atobe and Echizen a sign to stop... um... their activity.

_-----_

_Atobe was laying on the ground. His back ached. He was feeling a weight on top of him. But why can't he breathe? He opened his mouth wider only to feel an even stronger pressure on his lips. What was that? It was warm and soft. A weird feeling engulfed his whole body. It was nice._

_Echizen was just pushed off of the bench and now the same brutal force pulled his wrist again and placed him on something uncomfortable, but warm and sweet. He was lying on his stomach and his face was burning. His lips were getting wet._

_----- _

Both Atobe and Echizen were still dizzy after Inui's juice and his smelling-salts. When they finally realized what they were doing they recoiled one from another. That mean as far as the chain from their handcuffs allowed them. The red trace of blush remained on their faces when they were wiping their mouths.

"What is this?!" Ryoma asked, lifting his right hand. Anger could be clearly heard in his voice.

"What did you do to Ore-sama?!" Keigo also demanded answers, inspecting the bracelet on his wrist.

"It's the second part of your punishment. In order to improve your cooperation you will be connected like that until 10 p.m.," Inui explained.

"What?!" was the simultaneous response from both sufferers.

"It's only five hours. I'm sure you can bear with it Ochibi." Kikumaru tried to comfort his kouhai.

"I thought there was nothing unfeasible for you Atobe." Oshitari provoked his former captain.

"Of course there is nothing that Ore-sama can't do." Atobe emphasized the first two words.

He swallowed a hook. _It was easy._The tensai smiled.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Echizen asked still not believing what was happening.

"If I were you I would find a good place to hide. It seems that _somehow_ the whole school heard about you and your fan clubs joined their forces," Fuji advised innocently pointing out the people around the courts. Most of them were taking pictures. _Who the hell invented cell phones with cameras?_

Atobe and Echizen gazed at each other. They would argue about it later. Now they had to find a way to get away from this place. Who said that the second part of punishment would be smooth sailing?

They stood up to their feet and moved. Atobe to the right heading directly to the exit, Echizen to the left, to take his bag first. Two steps later they finished once again in the place where they were standing at the beginning pulled together by the chain from their handcuffs. It seemed that walking wasn't an easy task anymore.

Both of them huffed.

"Momoshiro take the brat's bag. Oshitari take Ore-sama's." Atobe commanded.

Echizen didn't like to be ordered around. Especially not by someone like Monkey King, but this time he may have been right. It would be easier to run without any burden.

"Kikumaru take some smelling-salts from Inui and wake up Oishi. You will be our _defense__ wall_. Momoshiro and Kaidoh you will watch our backs." Atobe gave further instructions.

Echizen looked at the dive and had no choice, but to admit, inwardly, that his roommate was really skilled at commanding people. Thanks to this usually very irritating ability they were able to escape the crowd and now they were sitting in their living room thinking what to do next.

"I want Ponta, Monkey King," Echizen said pulling Atobe out of his thoughts. Just a few minutes earlier Keigo had received a phone call from his broker urging him to make a decision concerning the purchase of the stock shares, which would be equivalent to taking over quite a big company. But how the hell could he make any decision when he was in a situation like this? It would have to wait to after ten.

"Excuse me?" Atobe asked in disbelief. "Do you expect Ore-sama to bring you one?"

"No I don't. But unfortunately I can't move without you." Echizen gave Atobe a flat stare.

_Ahn, It make sense._

Ryoma was taking out a can of his favorite juice from the closet next to his bed when the sound of rumbling filled their room.

"Hungry?" Ryoma asked not bothering even to turn around. He was starting to suffer from the emptiness in his stomach too.

" Yes, but there is no chance that Ore-sama would go to cafeteria in a condition like this," Keigo replied lifting his left hand.

"I will make a dinner," Echizen offered. He didn't want to meet the horde of their fan girls either.

"You will do what?!" The older boy blurted out. He couldn't hide his surprise.

"Unlike you Monkey King, I know what pots and pans are for and how to use them to make something edible. During past two years I was living alone most of the time, so I gained some skills you can't even imagine."

Atobe felt offended by those words, but the voice in his head reminding him about the increasingly unpleasant feeling in his belly told him not to comment on this now.

Both of them went to the kitchen (like there was any option to do this separately). Ryoma opened some cupboards and took out the necessary things and ingredients. He was going to prepare his favorite curry rice with vegetables and beef. He put the rice into the water and placed two chopping boards on the table. Ryoma gave Atobe a knife and some carrots, while he himself started to cut thin slices of the meat. Keigo was sitting as if nothing had happened observing the younger boy working.

"What are you doing Monkey King?" Echizen asked when he saw that Keigo hadn't even lifted the knife.

"Nothing."

"Exactly. And what should you have been doing?" Echizen asked.

"Ekh, you can't expect Ore-sama to do something so ordinary."

"Of course I can," Ryoma stated, imperturbable. "If you want to eat the dinner you have to help prepare it."

"There is no way that –" The next rumble came out of the diva's stomach. Echizen smirked and moved the knife nearer to Keigo. The latter had no choice but to take it and peel the carrots.

xxx

"So this is what you wanted to talk about with Tosaka-sensei the other day." Oshitari smiled to Fuji on their way home from the cafeteria after a late dinner.

"Saa, who knows." Was the tensai's reply, although there was no point of hiding it from the other genius.

They squeezed through the bunch of girls waiting for the _stars of the evening,_ if by any chance they would leave their apartment. When Fuji and Oshitari finally reached the doors the shorter boy took out his keys and chose the one that fitted the lock in the door. A small, silver key shined and reflected in Oshitari's glasses.

"I see you gained a new key," the taller boy remarked assessing Fuji's new possession. It was definitely too small to fit any lock, unless...

"Oh, it's good that you are here. I have to talk to Echizen and Atobe." Inui appeared just in time to catch the still open door.

The three of them entered the apartment and went to the kitchen lured by the nice smell of food.

"What an interesting view," Fuji commented on Atobe and Echizen and took few more pictures. He would have to buy a new album very soon.

"I'm glad that you are doing well together." Inui sighed with relief. "It's hard for me to say it... but the key for your handcuffs disappeared. There is an 80-percent chance that someone-"

"What do you mean by _disappear _Inui-senpai?" Echizen knitted his brows. The only thing he was interested in was when he would be released.

Oshitari looked at the other genius. _So it was Fuji who 'found' this key._

"I mean that you will have to stay like that until tomorrow morning." The data man felt that it was high time for him to make a strategic retreat.

"You have to be kidding. Ore-sama have something very important to do today." Atobe exclaimed, but Inui was already in the living room.

"It's getting interesting." Fuji smiled receiving in return two angry looks. _Time to leave them alone. For now, _he thought and pretended that he was checking the watch.

"Would you accompany me during the round?" he asked Oshitari. Once in a while, as a dorm head, he had to inspect if everyone were in their rooms. Not that he cared about it.

xxx

Atobe turned on the laptop on his desk and took the notebook out of the drawer. Then he turned to Echizen.

"Ore-sama have a very crucial thing to do, so do not disturb Ore-sama." Keigo ordered sitting on the chair. Echizen blinked. _What did you say?!_

"Shouldn't you be asking instead of demanding? And why should I listen to you Monkey King?"

"If you do this Ore-sama will treat you to the dinner in the best restaurant in Tokyo." Atobe came up with an offer.

"I like cafeteria food." Atobe shuddered. He had no time for this. He had to make a decision before midnight.

"What do you want then?" he asked impatiently.

"A match." This was so like Ryoma.

"Ok. Than match and later the dinner. Ore-sama will arrange everything for Saturday, so... can you?" Atobe pointed at the chair next to him.

Echizen took the latest tennis magazine as well as a can of Ponta and sat beside Keigo.

An hour later Ryoma finished his reading matter and looked at Atobe. He was still working. There was no sign of the usual smirk. His fingers were running on the keyboard, his eyes focused on the screen and his lips tightened. He was in a different world now, thinking hard. He looked very serious and mysterious at the same time.

Echizen came to see things about Atobe that he never noticed before. He had to admit that he had been attracted to the diva ever since he met him at the street courts. This _affection_ has grown bigger with each game they played and was caused only by Atobe's tennis skills. _So why the hell am I looking at him this way now?_ Echizen called up the memory of their kiss earlier this afternoon. _No, no, no, no. I've to stop thinking about it._ He shook his head, pushing away his thoughts, and came back to the reality.

"By the way, what are you doing there all the time Monkey King?" Echizen asked peeking from above Keigo's shoulder. There were different diagrams, calculations and indicators on the screen. Beneath Atobe's right hand there was a bundle of papers containing some kind of account reports. Keigo was making hardly comprehensible notes on it.

"You won't be interested in it," Atobe replied not wrenching his eyes away from the computer.

"Why are you doing it? Your father is so rich that you wouldn't have to work all your life," Echizen blurted out still trying to decode what those calculations were about.

"If you must know, Ore-sama is earning Ore-sama's spending money by himself." Keigo replied. He was so up to his neck in thinking that he didn't even notice what he had just said. Echizen was stunned.

"So..." Ryoma paused for a while "...you sponsored the club's new locker room and last year's summer training camp all by yourself? Do senpai-tachi know about it?"

_Know about what? _Keigo was starting to understand what they were talking about. _Shit. _He was so busy that he didn't realize what he said before. _Shit. Shit._

"Ore-sama like to keep some of Ore-sama's private issues private. You cannot tell about it to anyone."

"Che, whatever." Echizen said like he didn't care at all, but he had to admit that Atobe made a huge impression on him. Seemed that his life wasn't as easy as everyone thinks.

Sometime around midnight Keigo finally shut his computer down. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and tilted his head back. He had bought those shares. Tomorrow, after the morning session on NY Stock Exchange he would find out whether the decision he took was good. If not, he would have a lot of trouble.

"Oi brat, Ore-sama is going to sleep," Atobe stated when he opened his eyes. He received only a short snore in reply. Ryoma was half-lying on the desk with his hands under his head as a pillow.

"Oi Echizen, wake up." Keigo nudged him lightly. No response. That brat had been sitting quietly on the chair for over two hours. No wonder that he fell asleep.

Atobe lifted the other boy and placed him on his bed. He was looking at the sleeping Ryoma for a while. There was no arrogant smirk on his face. Instead, a gentle and a beautiful smile graced his features. _Such seductive lips, _he thought touching them lightly with his index finger. _So cute._

Atobe groaned. Great he was going insane. How could he even think that Echizen was cute? What was there to like about that brat anyways? He was arrogant, cocky and was always arguing with him. And nobody argued with Ore-sama. But on the other hand, those were features that kept his attention from the moment when he met him for the first time. That brat was dedicated to tennis and always said what he thought. It seemed that somehow he had been captivated by this young prince. Atobe bit his lips at the recollection of their kiss. The shivers went down his back. _Good God. How can he make a face like that? I'm losing my mind._

With this thought Atobe placed himself next to Echizen on the bed, closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. When he was about to immerse himself in a dreamland Ryoma rolled over so now he was facing Keigo. He shivered. When the grey-haired boy stretched his hand to pull the quilt higher on them, he felt a tight, yet gentle squeeze on his left arm. Echizen wrapped his arms around the other boy's hand clinging closer to his new source of warmth. He fidgeted for a few seconds, then mumbled _Karupin_, snuggled against Atobe even more and felt deeper in the sleep wearing the expression of an extremely contented cat.

Keigo was lying on the bed not sure how to react. _Who or what the hell is Karupin?_

_

* * *

_**A/N**:Ok, so that's how the things are developing. I hope you like it. Please leave a review to support my will for writing. Were the handcuffs to obvious? So many of you have guessed.

**_Happy New Year everyone!!!_**


	8. Atobe's decision

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**SPECIAL THANKS:** Sanz0girl for betaing.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R **I'm really happy when I read them**: **ajas136, Sanz0girl, DarkAndStormyNight, misaki, Dudly, secret25, - rozardoll., Rika-chi, EchizenRyomaLover, .Days, Koshimae Ryo, HiKaRi-ChIbI, IsobelAnis, TQWEE, roses-have-thorns911, MandaxPanda

**A/N**:Ok, I have some news. First, the good one. After reading your reviews I've decided to write an Omake. You can find it at the end of the chapter. It's for all of you, who are concerned about Atobe being jealous of Karupin.

And now the bad one. The upcoming more or less 2 moths will be very busy for me, both at the University and at work, so I have no idea how often the story will be updated. I will try to do my best. Stay with me and

**ENJOY!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 8: Atobe's decision**

_**-----**_

_**Previously on chapter 7:**_

_With this thought Atobe placed himself next to Echizen on the bed, closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. When he was about to immerse himself in a dreamland Ryoma rolled over so now he was facing Keigo. He shivered with cold. When the grey-hair boy stretched his hand to pull the quilt higher on them, he felt a tight, yet gentle squeeze on his left arm. Echizen wrapped his arms around the other boy's hand clinging closer to his new source of warmth. He fidget a few seconds, then mumbled Karupin, snuggled against Atobe even more and felt deeper in the sleep, wearing the expression of an extremely contented cat. _

_Keigo was laying on the bed not sure how to react. And who or what the hell is Karupin?_

-----

Up and down, up and down, up and down…

Ryoma yawned not sure why his head was continually moving lightly up and down. It woke him up. On the one hand this feeling was pleasant and calming, on the other hand, however, he was angry for being woke up so early in the morning.

Echizen opened his eyes and tried to find out where exactly he was. The last thing he remembered was that he was reading some tennis magazine waiting for Monkey King to finish his work and then he closed his eyes. Just for a second. And now he was lying on the bed on his right side, left hand below his face. Something was wrapped around his back. He felt warm and cozy.

_Wait a second._ If he is lying on the bed where the hell is Monkey King?! Ryoma moved his left hand down. He felt well-shaped abdominal muscles. _Oh shit. I'm hugging Atobe's chest… but why does it feel so good? Jeez, I'm starting to lose trust in my own senses. _

Ryoma yawed one more time, sat on the bed and checked a clock. He has to wake up Atobe too. No way he would let him enjoy his sleep if he can't. Only one more look at this calm and handsome face.

_Enough. _Echizen shook his head trying to go back to his senses. He poked Keigo at his left side.

"Oi, wake up Monkey King! Are you gonna sleep forever?" To think that a day will come, when he would have to wake up someone else. If his baka Oyaji would see it…

"Ahn, be quiet brat." Keigo mumbled and rolled over to his right side dragging Echizen along. For the second time within the last twenty four hours they were so close to each other, being able to feel warm breath on their faces. For a while both of them were stunned, unable to move or say anything.

Ryoma was looking down into the most bluish and the deepest eyes he has ever seen in his whole life. How it's even possible that he noticed it? But, on the other hand, how couldn't he spot it before?

A light blush popped up on Echizen's face. As soon as he felt a warm flush spreading on his cheeks he jumped off Atobe. He was praying inside that Keigo didn't notice anything. Unfortunately…

Oh, so even the ever-smirking prince of tennis can blush?" The diva teased his roommate not aware of the fact that Echizen was equally surprised with his reaction. "It's kinda cute."

"Don't call me cute Monkey king." It's really hard to imagine how Ryoma was now regretting that he didn't sleep with his cap on, so he could slip it down to cover his face.

xxx

"It's high time. Don't you think?" Fuji asked the other tensai making himself a breakfast. He have just added the enormous amount of wasabi sauce to his rice with vegetables. The amount so much that no normal human being would be able to eat it, but it's Fuji who we are talking about.

" Yes, he should be here any minute." Oshitari nodded pouring the tea into his favorite glass. It's been a long time since he stopped being amazed with his friend's eating habits. "After all it wasn't hard to hack Inui's laptop."

"Don't be so modest. Last year you've broke into the school's main computer."

_-----_

_Yesterday in the evening:_

"_Saa Oshitari, I need your help" Fuji just finished adding new photos to his latest Echizen and Atobe album vol.2._

_The other genius adjusted his fake glasses and closed the book he was reading, laying on his bed. In general, there were only two situations when Fuji ask him for help. Either he needed an accomplice to make a prank on somebody, or he needed to hack somebody's computer, which usually was close connected with the first situation. _

"_What can I do for you Fuji?"_

"_Oh, it's nothing difficult for you. I need you to access Inui's laptop." The shorter teenager smiled and patted the chair next to the desk. Oshitari sighed and stood up from his bed._

"_Do I want to know what for?" Oshitari asked turning his computer on, then entered a password. It was truly an easy and a fast work, since some time ago he established a permanent connection with Inui's laptop. "Seriously Fuji you should havealready learned how to do this."_

_Fuji approached the other genius, then bended and whispered into his ear "We both know that I already know how to do this, but it's a great excuse to work together with you."_

_Oshitari adjusted his glasses once again. It wasn't the first time Fuji was talking to him in this seductive way. The worst thing was, however, that even after almost three years of sharing the apartment, it was impossible to tell when the former Seigaku tensai was teasing and when he was serious. Not that it made him any difference… _

_Few seconds later the computer's display changed, showing enormous amount of different kind of folders. _

"_What are we looking for?" The black hair boy asked not taking his eyes off the monitor. _

"_Inui should have already ordered the spare key. I want you to change the address of the delivery." _

_Oshitari smiled lightly. Ahhh… so that's how it is. Fuji wants to have some more fun from Echizen's and Atobe's misfortune. Apparently he plans on continuing this comedy a little longer._

_-----_

_Knock, knock._

"Talk of the devil" Oshitari raised his head at the sound coming from the door.

"Shall we see how the situation will develop?" Fuji asked his friend taking a plate with his breakfast and leaving the kitchen .

"Come in." Tezuka answered from the living room. He was sitting on the couch reading a newspaper. He still had over half an hour before the classes starts.

The door opened and the Data Man slipped timidly inside. His face had rather weird expression. Was he afraid?

"I'm glad you are here Tezuka. I have to talk to you about… something."

"What is it Iniu?" The captain asked putting aside his newspaper and making some space for the two tensais, who just came from the kitchen, to sit.

"Have Atobe and Echizen awaken already?" the Data Man asked quietly making sure that if the answer is negative he wouldn't wake them up himself.

"No." Tezuka haven't heard any sounds of quarrel yet, so it can be taken as a quite good basis to assume that both, the diva and the cocky freshman, were still asleep.

"Good, I would rather not to be here when they do so." Inui sighed with relief. He didn't want to be within the striking field of those two when they find out what has actually happened.

"Get to the point Inui" Tezuka was getting inpatient. Since they all moved here to the dormitory three years ago he became a full time captain, working 24/7. But still, it has no comparison to what he was going through since the young tennis champion moved in.

"I really have no idea how this could happen." Inui was stomping from leg to leg. "I'm sure I clearly told them to send the spare key at the same address as the handcuffs before…-"

"What do you mean by that?" Atobe and Echizen were standing in the door to their room. They looked really messy. After all they had no chance to take a shower or change their clothes since yesterday.

"Oh Atobe, Echizen. Did you sleep well?" Fuji asked innocently. Somewhere in the middle of the night he slipped into their room to take some photos and as for now, they were the most valuable ones he was able to collect. To think that those two can look so sweet together while sleeping wrapped in each other arms. There is nothing more now, but to use those pictures well. Atobe and Echizen should definitely think of locking their room in the future, but Fuji, for sure, will not be the one to put that idea.

Keigo and Ryoma glared daggers at Fuji. "Would you care to explain what happened to the key Inui?" the silver head boy crossed his arms striking the well-known pose demanding immediate explanations.

"Ekhm, right now it's somewhere… else. I've already contacted the delivery company. They will send it here around the evening." Inui didn't want to go into details. Right now the wisest move was to disappear from here as soon as possible.

"What do you mean by that?" Aha… the storm was starting.

"I believe it means that you and Echizen will stay together a little longer" Fuji said something that Inui was desperately trying to avoid.

"How am I supposed to attend classes with him?" Echizen asked lifting his right hand up.

"You rather mean, how Ore-sama is supposed to honor his classmates today with you clinging to Ore-sama like that." Atobe riposted immediately. _How the hell that brat could say something like that. He should be profoundly happy that he was able to spend so much time with me. My subjects would do anything for a possibility to stay so close to me even for a minute. _

"You know I didn't ask for it."

"Ore-sama neither."

"Oh, it's late already. I've to go" Inui interrupted the upcoming quarrel, checking his watch. It was a high time for him to take a leave.

"You are right. We have classes too." Fuji and Oshitari stood up from the couch and took their bags. It's such a pity that they have to go now. They will have to find an excuse to ditch classes and spy a little on Atobe and Echizen.

"Ekhm" Tezuka caught. He was a model student and he couldn't allow himself to be late. He stood up and rubbed his temples. "Please, just do not do anything reckless." He threw shutting the door behind him. Even though they are not at the practice now, he still felt responsible for their actions and leaving them here together didn't forecast anything good.

So, it was half past eight in the morning and Atobe and Echizen were left alone in the apartment.

"Let's make breakfast Monkey King." Ryoma pulled Keigo towards the kitchen. He was getting hungry.

"What are you doing brat?" Keigo stopped in half a step. We have to do something about this situation."

"It can't be helped. I'm hungry. Yesterday I was waiting for you to finish your work, so you have no right to argue with me today." Ryoma tilted his head to meet Keigo's eyes. He was gazing at them intensely.

"Ore-sama promised you that Ore-sama would treat you to dinner, so do not complain." Atobe took out his phone and quickly chose a right number.

"Takuma send the car to the dormitory and prepare a breakfast for two." Atobe shut his phone. "Take your tennis bag brat. We are leaving."

"Che. Whatever."

xxx

"Ne, Oishi do you think that Atobe and Ochibi are ok?" Kikumaru asked his friend walking up the stairs, passing the school gate. "Inui should have released them by now."

"Don't worry Eiji. Everything should be fine, otherwise they wouldn't be able to go to school." The taller boy replied. There is no way that Inui would do something that interfere with their actual students duties.

"Yee… I think you are right, but somehow they were funny together." Kikumaru chuckled at the reminiscence of yesterday. To think that the Tawamure's data man would come with such a sophisticated punishment. "By the way Oishi, you know what is the day after tomorrow?"

"It's Sunday, so what?" He replied entering the classroom. Almost all their teammates were already there. There was no fear that they would be separated into different classes since it was the school's policy to place the players training the same sport in one class to make it easier for them to arrange a practice schedule.

"It's 4th October…" Kikumaru tried to put his friend on the right track.

"Are you talking about Atobe's birthday?" Inui burst into the conversation when the Golden Pair was passing him to get into their seats.

"Now, when you mentioned it, I haven't seen any signs of an upcoming party." Oishi remarked taking out the book out of his bag.

"Nya, I was really looking forward to this." Eiji sighed taking his seat with resignation. You could say anything about the diva, but the parties he was organizing were well known for its splendor. Last year Atobe changed both, the first floor of their dormitory and its main common room into an awesome club with a delicious food and music for everyone. The whole school were talking about that event for a long time after it was over. To be more precise, until the next party he thrown, namely the Christmas Party. _Heh, it's good to be rich. _

"Eiji, you shouldn't be so mercenary." Oishi scolded his roommate. "Atobe looked rather tired lately."

"I think he had some problems he didn't want to talk about." Oshitari explained. All of them knew Atobe well enough to spot that something wasn't as it should be, but on the other hand, it was also like the diva to not say a word about it.

"Nya, maybe we should ask him straight on. He should be here at any moment." Eiji looked at the clock hanging above the blackboard. There were three more minutes before the bell will ring to announce the next day full of never-ending classes.

"I think we will have to wait a little longer. It seems that Atobe will skip classes today." Oshitari informed his red head classmate receiving astonished look as a reply.

"Due to some circumstances he and Echizen will stay together a little longer." A creepy smile popped up onto Fuji's face. He will wait fifteen minutes and then he will excuse himself to an infirmary to leave a classroom and play a game called _Checking the Well-being of His Dearest, Unfortunate Friends _aka spying.

xxx

"Welcome home young master. Good morning young sir." The butler greeted both teenagers not letting himself to show any hint of surprise when he saw how the two were _bonded_ to each other.

"Takuma is the breakfast ready?" Keigo asked leading Ryoma through a huge hall to the dining room.

Echizen was walking slowly besides Atobe inspecting the place they were in. At the opposite side of the entrance door there were curving, wide stairs. The walls were all covered with paintings depicting lots of people, some of them from past periods, what Echizen could deducted from their style of dressing. A huge, crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling was enlightening the whole room.

"You are stunned by Ore-sama's beautiful mansion, ahn?"

"Not really." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. Echizen has been already in similar places before, but still it was just unmoral to live in such a house. Moreover it's probably not the only one that is owned by the Atobes.

When they entered the dining room the butler pushed away the chairs helping them to take their seats.

"Excuse me for the inconvenience." Takuma apologized bending deep, then quickly and skillfully rearranged the table, so that boys could sit next to each other instead of on the opposite sites. When finished he poured the highest quality green tea into the china cup and explained what kind of dishes were prepared by the chef.

"Is there anything else I can do for you young master?"

"Call the locksmith and prepare a Jacuzzi. We are going to take a bath after the breakfast." Keigo ordered helping himself with a crispy, just backed baguette.

"Of course." Takuma bowed and started to move back not turning away until he shut the door, leaving Atobe and Echizen alone.

xxx

_Jeez, what those teenagers think these days._ The locksmith thought when pouring the mixture of India rubber, gypsum and some other ingredients into the lock hole in Echizen's part of the handcuffs. He was quite shocked when he heard why he was called into Atobe's mansion, but _the customer comes first _after all.

"Ore-sama expects the key to be ready in one hour." Keigo stated, standing up from the couch, he and Echizen were sitting on. Since Ryoma had nothing better to do, or to be more accurate, he had no other option, he followed Keigo leaving the room. They walked few minutes before they approached a huge, canopied with glass terrace. There in the middle was standing a large whirlpool bathtub, with a steam rising above it, surrounded with exotic plants.

"According to you Monkey King, how are we supposed to take a bath fully clothed?" Ryoma asked looking at the Jacuzzi. Was it calling him?

_Riiiiip_

Echizen blinked. Did Atobe just have torn up the shirt he was wearing?

"Who said we will be dressed, ahn?" Ryoma twitched at the sight of Keigo's bare chest. "Are you waiting for Ore-sama to undress you brat?" he asked provocatively, smirking at the greenish black hair boy standing next to him.

"You wish Monkey King."

A moment later both of them were sitting in the bathtub only in the underwear. Echizen sat on the platform, the water up to his waist, letting himself slowly to accustom to high temperature. The warmth of water in a combination with the coolness of the air outside the Jacuzzi made Ryoma to shiver slightly, making his flesh creep and his nipples to erect. It didn't evade Atobe's attention who was silently admiring the young prince body. It wasn't the first time he saw him like this, half naked. For almost the month now they were sharing one room and were changing in the same locker room after everyday practice, but this time was different. It seems that since yesterday something changed into Keigo's perception of the other teen. Even his body reacted on his own. He felt his member tightening in his boxers. It was the undeniable sign that he was attracted to this cocky brat. That tipped the scales and Atobe decided to make Echzien his. _The Atobes get, what Atobes want. _It was the first thing he learned as a kid.

One hour later when they finally have decided to leave the bathtub they have found two piles of fresh clothes, small box with a tiny, silver key inside and a report laying on the table. Keigo took a key and opened both metal bracelets.

_It feels so good to be free. _Ryoma was standing, massaging his right wrist. At last he could do whatever he wanted to, not being restricted by Atobe. The young tennis star's gaze wandered to the diva. He was standing next to the table, dripping wet with a small, white towel around his neck. The water was flowing down his back. He took a report and started to scan it quickly, his eyes shifting expertly back and forth from left to right. _Those are probably the information, about this new company he bought yesterday, that he was looking for. It sure is tough to run your own firm. _

"Takuma bring us some drinks. Ore-sama would like to have coconut milk with orange and kiwi juice." Atobe ordered not letting his eyes of the booklet he was reading.

Echizen shuddered. Was the butler here all the time? How come he never noticed? It seems that he is very well-trained to stay invisible when not needed by the diva.

"And for you young sir?" Takuma addressed Echizen, ready to take any order. In the basement of the mansion, there was a huge, like everything here, pantry with a freezer. It could easily compete with a well-stocked beverage store.

"Ponta."

This time the butler shuddered, even if only in his mind since he couldn't show any kind of expression that would bring disgrace to his employers. "Grape one." Echizen added when he received no sign of confirmation from Takuma.

"As you wish." The butler bowed and left the terrace. _Dear God. Out of all possible drinks and cocktails he had to choose Ponta?_ Now, he will have to send someone to the convenience shop immediately. _Geez, this boy is even weirder that Atobe's friends from his Hyotei tennis team._

"So?" Ryoma asked Keigo, when the latter shut the report and put in back on the table.

"So what?" Atobe asked drying his gray hair. When he raised his arms to do so, Echizen could make a close examination of Keigo's lean, yet strong body, including the washboard abs, he was touching this morning.

"Did you succeed with the yesterday's business?" Ryoma asked drying his own hair, although the small smile that popped up Atobe's face was an answer by itself.

"Your doubt is insulting. Of course the transaction was incredibly rewarding." Keigo replied with his never disappearing self-confidence. "Takuma call the chauffer. Ore-sama and Echizen are going to Nagano."

Ryoma took the towel out of his face and blinked. The butler came back already. _I wonder how long it took him to become so transparent, but simultaneously always ready for Atobe's orders. _"I'm not going anywhere Monkey King," he added in a while. He had no slightest intention to leave Tokyo.

"Didn't Ore-sama promised you brat a match and the dinner, ahn?" The diva raised his right eyebrow in this characteristic way of his.

"We don't have go for this to Nagano. I bet you have courts behind the house and we can skip the dinner part."

"No we can't. Ore-sama has already made a reservation in a French restaurant." Keigo replied taking a sip from the slim glass, decorated with a fresh fruits, that he took from the butler. He has already decided that he is going to seduce the brat and the upcoming two days create a perfect opportunity to do so. Nobody would be able to resist his charm.

"Che, whatever." Ryoma stated opening his can with a faint sound of escaping bubbles.

Keigo smiled to himself. _Prepare yourself Echizen. By the end of the weekend you would be mine. _

OMAKE

"Hallo" Echizen answered his cell phone, that was ringing for a while now.

"Oyaji? I told you not to call me" he spoke annoyed. "Instead of talking nonsense, you better tell me how is she?" On those words Atobe strained his hearing. _So there is actually someone Echizen is concerned about. _

"Tell Karupin that I miss her."

_Her? Does the brat has a girlfriend? It's unbelievable, but it can't be helped. He will have break up with her after choosing me over._

"I let you sleep with her from time to time, so she won't feel too lonely"

_Huh?! _It was hard even for Atobe to comment it.

"Bye." Echizen shut his phone and looked at the older boy. His face had rather weird expression. "What?!" he asked, when Atobe didn't let an eye off him.

"So, you really like this Karupin, ahn?"

_Hmm, w_hy the hell Atobe was asking that? "Yeah, I'm living with her almost all my life."

The diva was looking as the smirk on Echizen's face was slowly replacing with a gentle smile. He felt a little prick in his chest. What was this weird feeling?

"Wanna see her?" Ryoma asked looking for a photo on his cell. Atobe unwillingly took a look, only to see white, fluffy cat curled up on the couch.

"A cat?!"

"Yes, Karupin is a cat. Got a problem with that Monkey King?"

Atobe sighed silently feeling the weight falling from his heart.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you like this chapter. Please drop me a review. Should I make Oshitari and Fuji a couple?


	9. Seduction

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**Warning #2: **This chapter is not beta-ed yet. It's over a week since I've published the last one, so I've decided to update it this way and replace it later when Sanz0girl checks it for me.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R: **HiKaRi-ChIbI, FujiSyusuke1995, IsobelAnis, xxSnowxxAngelxx, - rozardoll, secret25, TQWEE, EchizenRyomaLover, Rika-chi, Sanz0girl, denizen of the night, MandaxPanda, Pri-Chan 1410, Koshimae Ryo

**A/N**: Good news first: this chapter is extremely (I really mean extremely) long, with quite a bit lemon. Yes, there is 1,5k lemon, so it finally justifies the rating for the story. Jeez, it took me half of a day to write it. I hope you will like it. Bad news: right now I will have a hectic period both at work and at the University, so the next update will be I honestly don't know when. Remember: more reviews mean more motivation.

**ENJOY !**

**

* * *

  
**

**Chapter 9: Seduction**

_-----_

**_Previously on chapter 8:_**

"_We don't have go for this to Nagano. I bet you have courts behind the house and we can skip the dinner part." _

"_No we can't. Ore-sama has already made a reservation in a French restaurant." Keigo replied taking a sip from the slim glass, decorated with a fresh fruits, that he took from the butler. He has already decided that he is going to seduce the brat and the upcoming two days create a perfect opportunity to do so. Nobody would be able to resist his charm. _

"_Che, whatever." Ryoma stated opening his can with a faint sound of escaping boubles._

_Keigo smiled to himself. Prepare yourself Echizen. By the end of the weekend you would be mine._

_----- _

"… and then Ore-sama has shown Tezuka who is better…."

"Monkey King…"

"…Ore-sama's Tannheuser Serve got even better…"

"Monkey King!"

"… it's all thanks Ore-sama's magnificent skills. It's such a waste for the society that after the high school ends Ore-sama won't participate anymore in any tennis tournaments…"

"Jeez, Keigo shut up already." Ryoma couldn't take it anymore. They were sitting in a limousine for almost two hours now and Atobe was all the time going on and on about his magnificent self. Echizen has already lost a count of how many times the diva called himself Ore-sama.

_Huh?!_ Atobe froze. _Did the brat just order him to shut up? And did he call him by his first name? _Up till now, there was only one person calling him like that. Even his parents ad honorifics like –kun. But, in the light of previous resolution, it's a good, first step to seduce the brat.

"You should be awed by Ore-sama's magnificence, Ryoma." Atobe emphasized the last word, placing himself in a more comfortable position on the limo's couch.

"Yeah, yeah I really am." Few more minutes and he will jump out of the car no matter if it stops or not.

It was the time when a brilliant idea popped into Echizen's head. "Wanna bet Monkey King?" he asked. There is no chance that the diva would let an occasion of taking a revenge for shaving his head three years ago. "If I win a match you won't call yourself Ore-sama for the rest of the weekend."

"And what if Ore-sama win?"

"Whatever. How about I will do whatever you want to for the rest of the weekend?" Ryoma blurted out not giving it a second thought. In the end there was no way he would lose to Monkey King no matter how good he became over past few years.

The inner Keigo was dancing and jumping inside the diva's head. It seems that opportunities are knocking to his door by themselves. There is no way he would let them go.

"You got a deal brat."

xxx

Half an hour later both of them were already warmed up standing on the court behind Atobe's mansion. The diva post his racket on the ground and spun it.

"Which?"

"Smooth." Echizen replied looking as the blue piece of branded equipment was falling into the ground with a slight twang, revealing a letter "A" in its normal position.

"I'm going to serve first Monkey King."

"So I'm staying on this court end." Atobe lifted his racket and went to the baseline.

On the other side of the court Echizen was bouncing the yellow, shaggy ball with his left hand. It became his ritual to start a match with his famous Twist Serve. It was the fastest and the easier way to test the opponent's strength.

"Ryoma, you still think that you can attain something with that serve, ahn?"

"We won't know until we try, will we?" Ryoma bend his knees, rose his red racket, he was holding in his right hand, tossed the ball high in the air and slapped it.

The ball flew low above the net, then, as expected, landed next to Atobe's right foot, spinned and went towards his face. Keigo moved his hand backwards, preparing himself to return the shot, waiting for the ball to go towards his right cheek. After the ball swept a few circles on the ground it went up. Atobe swung his racket and… missed?

The ball indeed looked like a normal Twist Serve. At least until it went up. Instead of going straight up, it curved passing Keigo's racket and dispersing his grey hair next to his _left_ ear.

"Ahn, so you have learnt a new serve brat?"

"You can say that." Echizen took the second ball out of his pocket and bounced it a few times. Then he straighten his arm aiming his racket into Atobe's direction and asked "Wanna try one more time?"

"Bring it on."

This time the serve went as usual. The ball spinned next to Atobe's right foot and went straight next to his right cheek making the diva instincitively to step a little backwards.

"Ahn", Keigo said regaining his balance "So there is no way to tell the difference when the ball is going towards left or right. Impressive, but rest assure that Ore-sama will break it." Atobe smiled to himself. _That brat, he didn't show it when we played a match at the school courts over two weeks ago. _

"One game to love" Ryoma smirked "Your turn to serve Monkey King." As expected from Atobe he adjusted quickly to the new serve and was able to return the last one. Unfortunately the ball merely went inside the court and was easily hit by Echizen's Cyclone Smash.

Atobe adjusted the grip on his racket. One more time and he will be able to tell where the New Twist Serve is going. The brat is good, but he is only human. There is slight, almost invisible difference in a composition of his wrist when the ball is touching his racket. It was some time since Atobe has experienced that kind of challenge. It's true that he could count on Fuji, Oshitari or Tezuka in this matter, since they were developing new moves from time to time, but usually he saw them perfecting the shots during the practices, so they weren't a big surprise to him.

Atobe shook his head. _That's enough. _Now it was his turn to show the brat that not only he has improved. Keigo threw the ball in the air and smashed with all his strength. The ball spinned rapidly down the court instead of bouncing, making it really hard to hit.

Echizen quickly predicted where the ball is going to land and prepared himself to return the serve. He lowered his racket and hit the ball before it touched the ground. The impact was so great that Ryoma had to ad also his other hand to improve the grip. Unfortunately he made it fraction of the second too late and the racket flew away.

Using his index finger Echizen raised his cap a little and dared Atobe with a gaze. "Aaah, so you did improve Monkey King."

"You would better prepare yourself brat for a defeat."

Half an hour later it was a tie. Barely two games all. None of them has any intention of giving even one point. Both Echizen and Atobe were already fast tired.

"That smash you have used just before, what was that?" Echizen asked shuffling his foot the black mark, the ball left on the court.

"Are you impressed brat? That was Ore-sama's new move. It is called Eschenbach Serve. You should fell honored since nobody before could witness it."

"Hmm" Echizen smirked arrogantly. "Maybe I should return you a favor" he said and served with his dominant left hand sending the ball across the net with the speed that could be easily compared with Inui's Waterfall. Atobe took the racket with his both hands and returned the shot with his powerful backhand volley. Echizen approached the ball with his One-foot Split Step, bend his knees and lowered his racket. The ball touched the strings right above the lower frame, then rolled up the racket. This move allowed Echizen to easily reduce the impact from Atobe's Jack Knife, adding additional backspin at the same time.

Keigo rushed to the net immediately. He has seen that stance many times during past three years. It was Tezuka's favorite Zero Shiki Drop Shot, but it seems that the brat didn't master it perfectly. His racket was a little too high what didn't escape Atobe's sharp notice. He caught the ball before it could land on the ground and rolled back to the net, sending it up into the air. To his surprise the ball never crossed the net.

"Ahn?" he said checking the strings in his racket. If it wasn't Echizen as his opponent he would said that it was a fluke. "What was that shot?"

"It's called Apocalyptic Ball. If you let it hit the ground it won't bounce but roll to the net. If you hit it before it hits the court it will go straight to the net. It's unavoidable. Either way you lose a point."

_Ahn, it's getting interesting._

Ryoma and Keigo were both lying on the court beside the net pole, gasping heavily. They were desperately trying to catch as much air as they could. The match last three, extremely long ours. They brought their whole arsenal of techniques, both those well-know as well as those never showed before. Maybe with one exception.

"Ne Ryoma, why didn't you use your Ten'i Muhō No Kiwami?" asked Keigo lifting his back from the ground and placing, white, wet towel on his head trying to cool his body at least a little.

"Coz it's funnier this way," Echizen replied, drinking greedily the water before pouring out the remaining content of the bottle right on his head. He didn't care when the liquid drip from his hair on his favorite tennis shirt. It was already all wet.

Echzien immersed for a while in his thoughts. Some time passed since he felt so exhausted after the match. It was a great feeling however, and an excellent proof that Atobe was a formidable opponent. "And besides I promised not too use it, unless there no other option to win."

"Huh? Should Ore-sama remind you that you have almost lost couple of times?" Atobe asked taking of the towel from his head and grabbing the bottle from the nearby bench. He definitely needed to replenish deficiency of water in his organism. One god knows how much fluids they lost during this match. Even now, although it was an early afternoon, the sun was shining intensely and no a single cloud could be seen on the sky.

"Maybe I had, but I still won 119 to 117" Ryoma smirked wiping off his face. "And should I remind you that you have lost the bet and can't called yourself Ore-sama till the end of the weekend?" he added mocking the older teen.

"Ore-" Keigo broke of in the middle of the word. It wasn't easy to change a habit just like that. "I remember, so don't bother yourself and rest assure that I will keep my promise." There was a short pause before frantic laughter filled the whole surroundings. Keigo frown upon Ryoma, who was currently rolling on the ground, his hands on his, apparently hurting from laughing, belly.

"Oi brat, what is so funny?" Keigo exclaimed, demanding immediate answer. Nobody laughed in his presence unless he knew why.

"Hahahah I can't" Ryoma shutter out no without difficulties. "You should have heard yourself. It sounds so ridiculous combined with your pompous way of speaking." And the next peal of laughter escaped from the young prodigy's mouth.

Keigo smiled involuntarily to himself, when he slowly stood up from the ground and approached the other teen. It was such a rare view to see Ryoma smiling, not to mention laughing. Last time he saw such a sensation was after the Nationals three years ago, when the young prince, for the first time, activated his Ten'i Muhō No Kiwami, defeating Yuukimura and assuring Seigaku the championship.

"You can laugh as much as you want later, but now let's go to take a shower. We are both sweaty" said Atobe offering his hand to Ryoma. The latter was slowly starting to calm himself a little.

"You know Monkey King I even like you this way," Echizen replied grabbing the diva's hand and standing from the ground.

Keigo's eyes widened a little at the statement he just has heard. _Bingo _he thought _I'm one step closer to seduce you brat._

xxx

The bell rang announcing the end of the classes for today. Students were rapidly leaving the classrooms, making a big crowd around shoe lockers. It was Friday afternoon and everybody was happy thinking about the upcoming weekend.

"Eiji-senpai!" Momoshiro yelled, waving at the red-head with his left hand while taking out his sneakers out of his locker. "Wait for me!"

"Watch out what are you doing you peach head" hissed Kaidoh massaging his right ear. He was still hearing ringing. He was standing way too close to the spiky hair teen.

"You've got a problem mamushi?" Momoshiro retorted turning to his roommate. "You could have stood further away."

"It's not my fault that my locker is right next to yours, idiot."

Now both of them were facing each other, fists clenched ready for a fight.

"Oi, oi calm down both of you. Keep your strength for the practice" Oishi stepped in-between the two sophomores. During past years the Seigaku ex vice-captain became a pro at heading off the fights between the two trouble-makers.

"Have you seen Echizen, Fuji-senpai?" asked Momoshiro when all the players, except the two, were changing into their tennis clothes.

The tensai lifted his head, his fingers still running through his racket checking the stringing. "Unfortunatelly" he shook his head. "I even relieved myself from the third period, but couldn't find either him or Atobe of course."

"Aaaa" Momoshiro's face darkened as he sighed loudly. "He promised to treat me for burgers after the practice."

"Are you thinking only about food peach butt?"

xxx

140 miles away from Tawamure High the young, golden eyes teen sneezed.

"Bless you" said Atobe from across the table taking his eyes from the menu card. He was wearing the black suit, light pink shirt and the violet tie. They were sitting in the most expensive restaurant in the whole Nagano. It was situated at the top of a high skyscraper. The view from the window was barely describable in words. Thousands of lights were shining beneath them, slowly melting in the dark sky at the horizon.

They were sitting at the round table, surrounded with exotic plants, the silver tableware in front of them.

"Domo" Echizen replied. From the very moment when they have entered the restaurant he has a weird feeling that he's forgotten about something. But damn, he couldn't figure it out what was it.

"Have you decided on your meals young sirs?" the young waiter asked filling their glasses with water.

"I will take the usual" Keigo replied first, receiving the nod from the waiter in exchange.

"And what is your choice Echizen-sama?"

Ryoma wasn't even surprised upon hearing his name. By now he was accustomed to the fact that people, he has never seen before knew him, so he didn't even bother to take off his eyes out of the menu. "Grilled salmon with scampi and Mediterranean salad" he ordered after few seconds.

The waiter bowed taking a few notes. "Excellent choice, sir. May I do anything else for you sirs?" he asked turning his head to the young heir, who dismissed him with a move of his hand.

"Aaa, I would never expect you to know French" Keigo stated when they were left alone.

"I don't. I've learnt the names of the food in many languages during past few years," was Ryoma's short reply. He was now pretty busy with loosening his tie. Earlier that evening Atobe was really persistent, insisting that he has to present himself respectively when going to such an exquisite restaurant. It was still a big mystery how the diva persuaded him to wear such an uncomfortable, moves–restricting clothes. After all, almost everything that wasn't sport—style was considered by Echizen as an uncomfortable. With a suit at the top of the list.

When the dinner, followed by the dessert, which by the way, made our prince really happy, was over Keigo called his chauffeur and now both he and Ryoma were sitting comfortably in the black limousine heading towards Atobe's mansion.

Echizen was looking at the diva, when the later was talking about what he had planned for Saturday. He was taking and talking and taking… Ryoma, on the other hand, was feeling sleepier and sleepier. Atobe's voice was becoming more and more distant only to fade away completely when Ryoma drifted off to the light slumber.

"Oi Ryoma, are you listening to me?" Atobe asked when for the third time he didn't receive any reply. "Jeez you are the only one who can ignore me completely like that" he mumbled to himself, then bend forward and placed a soft kiss on Ryoma's lips. "Sweet dreams my priincess."

_I'm not so easy Keigo _Ryoma thought and smiled inside to himself.

xxx

"Fujiko pass me the salt" Kikumaru asked the tensai, unable to reach it by himself.

"Oi Eiji, you know you shouldn't use it so much. Salt has a negative effect on your body" Oishi scolded his doubles partner.

"He is right Eiji" added Inui putting on a slice of a tomato on his sandwich "It detains the water in your organism which hampers improving your endurance."

On those words Kikumaru crossed his arms on his chest and lowered his head, making an expression of an extremely discontent person. "You two can completely kill the whole joy from eating." His statement met with a burst of laugh that could be easily heard all over the dorm.

Tezuka sighed taking a sip oh a green tea from his favorite mug. It was Saturday morning and now he was supposed to relax himself during the breakfast, reading the newspaper and gathering the strength for the next tennis practice that was scheduled at ten. Instead of it, however, he was surrounded by the regulars, squeezed at the table in their leaving room, eating the breakfast together. And everything started so inconspicuously.

First came Inui, followed by Kaidoh, asking if Echizen and Atobe were in their room, because he couldn't catch them since yesterday and the key for their handcuffs finally was delivered.

The next were Eiji and Oishi. The former came to borrow a toothpaste from Fuji, because they were using the same flavor and Kikumaru's stock apparently run out. The latter has a business with Tezuka.

The last one came Momoshiro looking for Kaidoh and throwing unrefined insults directed at his roommate. If you add the present, four inhabitants of the apartment number one you will receive the bunch of ten teenagers sitting, eating and chatting at the not so big table.

"Nya, do you remember what we were talking about yesterday?" Kikumaru asked out of the blue pulling Tezuka out of his thoughts. The attention in the whole room was now directed towards the acrobat.

"I'm afraid you should be more precise Eiji" Inui adjusted his glasses and took a quick glance into his notebook. "According to my data, yesterday you brought up about one hundred different topics."

"Of course I'm talking about the party that should be tomorrow? "

"What party?" asked Momoshiro supported by Kaidoh's hiss. They were the only one uninitiated into the conversation from the previous day.

"Tomorrow is Sunday, the fourth October. It's Atobe's birthday, but right now there is no sign of neither of Atobe nor the party." Fuji explained briefly and smiled to his friend "Sa, I assume that you have an idea Eiji."

"Bui" replied Kikumaru making a V sign.

"At that idea is probably to throw our own party on Sunday, am I right?" the tensai asked smiling lightly.

"Eee? How did you know Fujiko?"

"Sa ne. Lucky guess."

xxx

"That serve was quite good, but nowhere as good as my Tannhauser Serve, don't you think brat?"

"Oii, shut up Monkey King and watch the match."

Ryoma and Keigo were sitting on the big, leather couch in the latter's chamber watching the tennis match between the two pro players from the world's top ten.

"Unwillingly I have to admit that you are way better than them" Keigo complimented the younger teen. It was almost unbelievable.

"Of course I'm. I've beaten them during last US Open. And now shut up already Keigo" Ryoma smirked grabbing the first available pillow and throwing it right into the other's face.

The young heir was stunned for a while. He was caught completely off guard. He looked at the white, fluffy thing placed on his laps. He couldn't believe that he was just hit with one of his own, expensive, goose-feather pillows. As a revenge he lifted it and threw it back at Echizen. And that was how the pillow fight between two young men began. During the next few minutes none of the pillows were safe since they became a very valuable ammunition.

Echizen scrambled on the big king-size bed near the window to grab the last pillow within his range. In the same time Atobe came from behind trying to smash the younger teen on his head. Ryoma smelled a danger and turned around knocking the pillow out of Keigo's hand, who lost his balance and now was toping Echizen supporting himself on the arms on either side of the younger teen's head. He was gazing at those golden eyes and his strong will together with his strong resolve to make the prince first head over heels with him, before making move on a physical contact vanished completely. He lowered his head and placed the soft kiss on Ryoma's lips. Exactly the same like the one yesterday in the limousine with an exception that now his object of affection was fully awake and aware of what is going on.

* * *

**LEMON WARNING**

**

* * *

  
**

Echziien blinked a few times when their lips finally parted. "Don't you think it's rude to suddenly shove one's mouth on somebody else?"

"Then shall I ask may I kiss you Ryoma?" Atobe asked still gazing like hypnotized into the pair of golden eyes.

"Dunno."

"Well may I?" Keigo repeated.

"It's not that I'd say "Go ahead monkey King" is there? If you are going to do this, just get on with it."

For Keigo those words sounded like an invitation. He leaned one more time and kissed Ryoma on the lips. Few seconds later when the black hair boy opened slightly his mouth trying to gasp some air, the diva slipped his tongue in deepening the kiss. He started slowly massaging Ryoma's tongue with his own, thoroughly exploring his mouth and waiting patiently for the response. He didn't have to wait long. Soon enough both of them were immersed in a deep, sensual kiss. Their tongues dancing, twirling and fighting at the same time. Echizen put his right hand on the back of Atobe's smooth hair and draw him closer deepening the kiss even more. He didn't plan on doing this with the Monkey King, at least not now, but he crossed already the line where he could back off.

They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, when Keigo suddenly broke the kiss. Ryoma felt a little disappointed, but this feeling disappeared as soon as it appeared, when he felt a finger lifting his chin up, and the hot, wet mouth covering his neck with a shower of kisses. He threw his head back and moaned, to undisguised satisfaction of Keigo, who was desperately fighting with himself, trying not to show how much he wanted the other teen.

He started to slowly unbutton they younger boy's shirt, placing the kisses lower and lower, making a wet trail. First the collarbone, then the breastbone and the chest. He was carefully choosing the places on Ryoma's body intentionally avoiding already hard nipples. When he was satisfied enough with the amount of groans he received from the prince he moved lower to perfectly curved abs. Now Keigo could fully admired Ryoma's bare upper-body. It was lean, fit and tan from endlessly practices on the fresh air. He became exceptionally good-looking young man in the space of those three years. No wonder he was so popular and gladly hired as a model to promote the sport clothes. But now he was lying on Keigo's bed exposed exclusively to his eyes. Atobe took a quick glance at the prince's face, his eyes closed and the expression showing a pleasure. _I doubt that anyone has seen you like that before. _Keigo reached Ryoma's right nipple with his hand, not stopping to explore every inch of his abs, and slowly started to massage it. A gasp of pleasure escaped the young tennis player as his nipple was teased by Keigo, getting harder with each touch. Echizen's mind was slowly getting blank. He knew that he shouldn't be enjoying this so much and yet the Monkey King really knew how to work with his tongue. He shivered in delight and decided that he cannot lose to him. Now can he? With a catlike agility, he pulled out from below the older teen and now was lying right on the top of him pinning his hands to the bed.

"Don't you think it's unfair Monkey King?" asked Ryoma, leaving Keigo in a light shock from the sudden change of positions. He was gazing at the wide open dark-blue eyes, at the same time skillfully removing the purple shirt from Atobe's body.

He unceremoniously covered one of Keigo's nipples with his mouth, flicking his tongue over it watching it getting hard, his right hand toying with the other one. He was sucking both of them alternately until he felt Atobe's erection jerked against his abs.

"Ahn Keigo, you are already getting hard just from teasing your nipples" said Echizen moving his hand to a certain southern region of Atobe's body, unbuckling the belt, then the top button and sliding the zipper.

"Look who is taking?" retorted the diva feeling that Ryoma's pants also became visibly tighter.

In one swift motion Ryoma pulled down Keigo's both, pants and boxers, watching his penis sprang out. He touched it gently, running his hand along it, then stopping at the head, swiping a thumb over a drop of a pre-cum. Keigo shuddered, revealing the sheer pleasure that this one action caused. He could came there and then.

Ryoma feeling the move beneath him lowered his head then took the tip of Keigo's erection into his mouth, savoring the taste of his lover. He was sucking and licking it, putting it deeper and deeper into his throat, receiving in response more and more moans and gasps. Encouraged with Keigo's reaction Ryoma increased the pace taking the older boys' ball with his hand. Atobe arched his back when the next wave of pleasure ran through his body. He gathered all the remains of his strong will, grabbed Ryoma's black hair and pulled him away from his fully erect member. He didn't want to cum. Not yet. Keigo grasped the tennis prodigy arm and with one move made them rotate, reversing their positions for the second time.

"Who said I would play bottom Monkey King?" asked Ryoma resting his back against orange, silk sheet.

"You really thought that you would top me brat" Keigo smirked from atop Ryoma, removing the latter's pants and underwear.

"Che." It was the last word that Ryoma was able to form, when he felt a hot mouth on his now revealed arousal. Keigo was licking and kissing it passionately. He moved Ryoma's legs up trailing soft kisses down his inner tight, one hand stroking his erection. Sensing what was coming next, the young tennis prodigy immersed his left hand in Atobe's silky, grey hair stopping him in the mid-way.

"Don't" he gasped with difficulty, but his actions were denying his words.

Atobe smiled to himself at the view of this usually arrogant brat, that was laying now on the bed beneath him almost begging for more pleasure. When the grip on his hair weaken he slide his tongue into Ryoma's entrance, who bit his lips trying not to shout. God one knows how much Atobe wanted to do Ryoma, but he decided that he needed to stretch the opening first to minimize the discomfort the younger teen will fell later. When he pulled out his tongue and replaced it with his index finger Ryoma hissed and strained his body at the intruder. Keigo kissed Echizen on his lips, giving the latter some time to accustom to the new feeling, then slowly started to move his finger in and out adding the second one somewhere in the middle of the process. Ryoma hissed few more times, that is until Keigo hit the spot that made Ryoma coil in pleasure. The diva let the prince savoring this feeling for a while before removing his fingers from inside the younger teen. Then he arranged himself comfortably atop the smaller figure, his face right above the other one.

"Relax Ryoma. I will try to make as painless as possible" assured Keigo placing a passionate kiss on the other boy's lips.

"Just shut up and do it already Keigo." Ryoma felt like he was going to explode any minute. Atobe didn't have to be told twice. _This brat definitely isn't an innocent uke_ he thought and thrust into Ryoma. In one deft move he slide into Echizen's butt groaning in pure ecstasy at the tight heat. _Jeez so hot and tight. _Below Ryoma bit his lips restraining himself from screaming. A grimace popped into Atobe's lips when he saw the pain clearly painted on his lovers face. He braced himself, pushing the pleasure he was feeling at the back on his mind trying to stay motionless until Ryoma was ready.

A moment later, when Echizen's expression soften Atobe decided to start moving. First slowly allowing the tennis prince's body got used to a new sensation. When the initial hisses subsided in favor of loud moans and groans and a pair of hands clasped behind his neck Atobe decided to pick up the pace. With on of his hands he grabbed Ryoma's neglected erection and synchronized their moves. Now their hips were slumming brutally. It was rough like their tennis matches. Pure pleasure.

Few more thrusts and Keigo cum inside Ryoma screaming his name. Soon enough the latter joined splashing his semen between their chests, arching his back and falling back on the bed, Keigo on the top of him. They collapsed onto the expensive bed coverage. Their minds completely blank, their muscles still tense from the orgasm.

* * *

**LEMON END**

**

* * *

  
**

There was silence. The only sound filling the room was coming from the throats of the two tired, but extremely content teenagers that were breathing heavily. When their heartbeats calmed down a little Atobe slid out rolling to the side brushing his sweat matted hair from his face, letting Echizen to take a deep breath.

"So you really like me, hmm?

"Che, don't go getting a swellhead Monkey King. I won't be staying like that. Tomorrow and I'll be back to the way I always am and then I'll openly declare a war against you" Ryoma replied studying the complicated design on the ceiling.

"That's right. So then tonight before the reset button is pushed I shall make you mine once again" Atobe smirked leaning down for the reciprocal kiss.

xxx

In the shower room in the tennis club house in Tokyo the light brown hair boy broke a kiss with his boyfriend and shivered.

"What is it Fuji?" the taller black haired teen asked loosening the embrace on the tensai slightly.

"Nothing. I just have a feeling that something good has just happened. But don't bother. Saa, where have we finished?" he asked smiling then moved his hips forward rubbing his erection against the other fully erect member and leaning for the next passionate kiss.

xxx

"Oi Ryoma, are you alright?" asked Keigo getting out of his limousine before the gate to his mansion in Tokyo.

"Of course I am not ok Monkey King. Because of your unrestrained desire my butt hurts," he retorted massaging his lower back.

"I do not recall you complaining last night brat" Atobe riposted entering the mansion, which door were wide open by Takuma beforehand. As soon as he crossed the doorstep the young, beautiful, blonde girl ran into their direction shouting "**Keigo**" and falling into his arms.

"**Anabel**?"

* * *

**A/N**:Wanna know who is Anabel and why is she calling Keigo by his first name? Stay tuned and review =)


	10. Keigo's family

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**Warning #2: **This chapter is half beta-ed.

**SPECIAL THANKS:** Sanz0girl for betaing.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R: **Lady Monozuki, Pri-Chan 1410, MandaxPanda, Sanz0girl, TQWEE, EchizenRyomaLover, HiKaRi-ChIbI, Koshimae Ryo, Rika-chi, sukoi-sugoi, Don Seira

**A/N**: Didn't you like the last chapter? So few reviews… sob. I hope so you will improve this time =) Ok, there is some drama in this chapter that shows closer Keigo's quite complicated family situation. Poor Keigo. I don't know why I'm making him to suffer like that. It's good that now whe has at least Ryoma =)

**ENJOY !**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Keigo's family**

_-----_

**_Previously on chapter 9:_**

"_I do not recall you complaining last night brat" Atobe riposted entering the mansion, which door were wide open by Takuma beforehand. As soon as he crossed the doorstep the young, beautiful, blonde girl ran into their direction shouting "__**Keigo**_" _and falling into his arms._

"_**Anabel**__?"_

_-----_

The girl clasped her hands behind Atobe's neck, clinging to him tightly and placing a kiss on his cheek.

"**Happy birthday Keigo! I've missed you so much,**" she exclaimed in smooth English, "**We haven't seen each other for almost half a year,**" she continued not paying attention to the black hair boy standing next to Atobe, observing the scene with a _slight _surprise. _Huh, so Monkey Kind has a birthday today?_

"How many times did I tell you to use Japanese when you come here?" asked Keigo. He was still being hugged and made no effort to push away the girl.

"**Oi, but I like English better without all those unnatural honorifics and polite speech,**" she said, finally releasing Keigo from her arms and examining him carefully. She smiled then, sparks in her eyes, and added, "**I'm glad you have finished with all those Ore-samas of yours.**"

"I didn't. It's just for the weekend." Echizen smirked and started to cough, trying to hide his amusement and, at the same time, gaining Anabel's whole attention. She looked at him with curiosity, finally realizing his presence.

"**Oi Keigo where are your manners?**" she approached Echizen and stretched her arms grabbing the price's right hand between her own and shaking them intensively. "**I'm Anabel Tutcher. I'm Keigo's cousin."**

"**Ryoma Echizen," **the black hair boy answered. _Hmm, so she is his cousin. Interesting. _He was looking at the girl standing in front of him. She was about his height, blond hair and green eyes. Nothing like Atobe. And more over, it seems that she has no intention of letting go of his hand any time soon.

"**I know. I'm a big fun of yours Ryoma." **If Echizen would receive one cent each time he hears those words he would probably be the richest man on the planet by now.

"**Ahn, since when do you like tennis?" **Keigo stepped in between them releasing her grip.

"**I don't. I'm a big fan of Ryoma since I've seen his bare chest photos for Levi." **Keigo's eyes widen when he turned his head towards the mentioned model in disbelief. Fortunately this advertisement wasn't released in Japan. He didn't want Ryoma to expose his body for the public view.

Ryoma cursed his manager in his mind. It all was his fault. He literally forced him to take part in a photo session for the jeans company. "Thanks" to this, he couldn't show himself on the street, neither in the USA nor in the most European countries, without being attacked by fans who wanted take pictures, get autograph or, what was the worst, touch him. Was he some kind of a showpiece? Echizen sighed at the very memory of the last few months. "**I don't wanna talk about it Monkey King.'**

Anabel blinked. Her gaze was wandering from one teen to another. Apparently she couldn't believe her ears. Her well-mannered, broadly educated and sophisticated cousin was just called Monkey King and didn't even react upon the insult? "**Hahaha,"** she burst into laugh, "**Monkey King? Hahaha, I like it."**

"**Don't you dare start calling me that, Anabel****!"** _Jeez those two are the only one who are not awed at all with my great presence. _

"**Don't be so nervous Keigo," **she said passing the older boy and wrapping her arm around Echizen, "**I will take care about our guest and you should go to see your father," **she waved in the direction of the stairs, "**Uncle is extremely mad at you. He said something about the meeting with your fiancé you were supposed to attend yesterday."**

"**Fiancé?! When did you plan on telling me about this Keigo?!" **Echizen spoke as calmly as he could although the boiled in his veins. Since he spent almost all his life in the USA he automatically switched into English when he was angry. And now he was really angry.

"It's not what you think Ryoma. I don't have a fiancé. It's a girl, who my parents have chosen for me. Please wait for me in the living room on the second floor I will explain everything to you later," Keigo addressed his boyfriend. His marriage was a very delicate matter and he didn't want to ruin his newly formed relationship with Ryoma. "And you Anabel," he added, threatening her with an index finger, "Keep your hands away from him or else-" he was stopped by the arrival of his butler, "Keigo-bocchama your father is awaiting you in the office upstairs."

Atobe nodded. His father wasn't a patient person and definitely not a man who should wait for anybody. "Takuma, show Ryoma to the Orange Suite," he said, then turned around and left leaving remaining three in the hall.

xxx

Keigo knocked on the big, ebony door right to the left from the stairs and entered the room.

"You wished to talk to me Otou-san."

"Yes. Come in Keigo-kun" the imposing figure of the man in his early forties pointed the place next to him. Keigo approached his father reluctantly, although he didn't show it. He knew that his situation was quite precarious. His father was supposed to be on the business trip in Australia till the end of the next week and since he shortened it, he must be really angry.

Kazuhiro-san raised his hand and slapped Keigo in the face, leaving a red trace on his left cheek. The young heir felt burn spreading over his face, but didn't make a single move. The Atobes do not show weaknesses. Never.

"You must _never_ disobey my orders," the man growled through the clenched teeth, "Yesterday you had an appointed marriage interview with the daughter of Pacific Trade Company's president. This marriage was to strengthen our company and provide it a great opportunity to enter European market! And now, our reputation is on the knife-edge. Do you realize how huge the damages you have caused with your actions," he grumbled.

"I'm sorry father, but there is already someone I like," Keigo said calmly, looking straight into his father's eyes. He had no intention of getting married at the age of eighteen with a girl he didn't even know. And he didn't want to let go Ryoma, the first person he really cared about.

"And you think, that this is reason enough for devastating our name? Twenty years ago I have met your mother on the marriage interview that my father prepared for me, and I'm happy with her now. Naohiro-san is an intelligent and beautiful young woman who you won't be disappointed with and soon enough you will learn to love her."

"I'm sorry father, but as I said before there is already someone…" Keigo broke off in the mid-sentence, seeing his father raising his hand again. He took a deep breath waiting for the next slap, but surprisingly, it never came. Kazuhiro-san stopped his hand and instead of hitting Keigo he put it into the pocket of his expensive, satin suit. "You are my only son Keigo-kun and I don't want to disinherit you. I hope you will choose wisely and make a right decision." He closed his eyes and went towards the door, but stopped right before them for a while and added not turning around "I've left your present in your room. Happy birthday son," and he left leaving Keigo alone in the cabinet.

xxx

"It's ok Takuma. I will show Ryoma to the Orange Suite," Anabel turned to the butler, then took Ryoma's hand and led him upstairs, "Come."

Echizen looked at the girl holding his hand. Although she and Keigo were cousins they were totally different, like two poles of the magnet.

When they were passing the cabinet, where Keigo and his father were having their _talk_, through the ajar door they peeped involuntary the scene that froze them and glued to the floor. The older man just slapped Keigo in the face and the latter didn't even turn a hair.

"You must _never_ disobey my orders," the man growled. Echizen couldn't believe his eyes. He wanted to interfere, but Anabel tighten the grip on his hand and drew him further into the corridor on the second floor.

"I don't think Keigo would like you to see him like that," she started lowering her head as they progressed through the wide hall to the left wing of the mansion, where the Orange Suite was located. "Keigo's father and my mother are siblings, but they are complete opposite. Uncle Kazuhiro was raised very strictly by his father, being prepared to inherit Atobe's business and now he is raising Keigo the same way. My mum says that he loves him very much, but can't express his feelings properly," she sighed pouring two glasses of fresh orange juice. They were now in the Orange Suite, the room arranged especially for Keigo's mother. It was very high apartment with the glazed roof. From the floor, covered with green carpet, grown up three rows of orange trees.

Anabel handed Ryoma the glass of juice and sat on the couch beside the window. "Oranges are Aunt Tamiko's favorite fruits. Too bad, that you can't meet her now. She is a lovely woman. She is currently staying at my parent's place in England." For the few next minutes she was talking about her home and her and Keigo's childhood. Echizen was only listening.

When she has finished one of her stories, Anabel looked at the watch,and in one go, drank up the content of her glass, and stood up from the couch. She gave Ryoma a visit card with her e-mail address and phone number written on it and said, "I've an appointment with a hairstylist now. I hope we will meet again. Write me if you have ever needed anything." She bend down then and placed a soft goodbye kiss on the tennis star cheek, "**It was nice to meet you Ryoma. I'm glad that Keigo has finally found someone who will stand by his side. Bye," **she waved and left the room, leaving Ryoma alone. He still didn't say anything trying to process what she just has had said. It seems that Atobe didn't have as simply life as everybody thought. He always carried an appearance of a person who gets easily everything he wants, because of his father fortune, but the truth is that he had to work hard for most of the things he had.

Echizen stood up from the couch and approached the table intending to pour himself another glass of juice. He was in the middle of filling it with ice-cubes, when the door opened and Keigo entered the room, as if nothing had happened, although the red mark on his cheek said something else. Echizen filled his glass full with ice and stuck it into Keigo's swollen face. Atobe's blue eyes widen slightly, but he gladly accepted the gift. He felt soothing cold spreading over his cheek. He wrapped his right hand around Echizen. They were standing like that in silence for a while, not aware that someone was looking at them from the hall, his eyes filled with anger.

xxx

"Kikumaru-senpai!" Momoshiro shouted to his senior's ear although he was standing right next to him.

"Huh? Did you say anything Momo?" They were standing in the corner of the common room at the first floor of their dormitory. The music was so loud that talking became almost impossible action.

"I just wanna ask if we have more chips," the spiky head teen asked leaning to the acrobat. The party has started an hour ago and they have already ran out of almost all the food they bought for the money they had have collected in the morning.

"Sorry Momo but there is nothing left. Nya, where is Atobe? He could treat us for some food," he crossed his arms and made a displeased look.

"It's already eight," said Oshitari checking his watch, "Don't you think Fuji it's high time for them to show up? I haven't seen either of them for the whole weekend"

"Saa ne. I think they will come up soon" the shorter tensai replied taking a sip of his drink. Tezuka has inspected beforehand all the beverages and even now, with help of Oishi, he was checking if no one was drinking alcohol. But Fuji wouldn't be called a genius if he couldn't smuggle one or two bottles of something stronger for his and Oshitari private usage.

xxx

"Ne Monkey King happy birthday," Ryoma said when they got into the limousine and rode back to school, "What do you want for a present?"

"Huh? You gave me already a present brat. Yesterday." Keigo smirked.

"I did?" Echizen knitted his brows. He didn't recall anything like that.

"Yes, even three times," the grey hair boy smiled even wider, "But since you insist I will take it also today," he leaned and kissed Ryoma on the lips, effectively preventing him from a retort.

-----

When Ryoma and Keigo have finally reached their destination, namely, Tawamure highschool, it was already dark outside. They left the limousine at the school gate and headed towards their dormitory.

"Hey, why did you stopped, Monkey King?" asked Echizen massaging his head. He just bumped into Keigo thinking about Kevin. The latter should be just finishing his training camp together with the team USA. Last week he has heard from the blond that they are probably going to Japan for the next Goodwill Game. Mr Davis, his damn manager, was sending him tons of e-mails each day regarding this matter, since he stopped picking up the phone calls. According to the information he was given by Kevin _he_ is going to come too. And it doesn't bode well.

"Oi brat, be careful. Why are you spacing out?" Keigo wanted to add something else, but when he looked into those golden eyes all the anger just flew away.

"It's not my fault that you have stopped suddenly" Ryoma said, passing by Keigo and walking further to the dormitory entrance. Soon enough the diva caught up to him and grabbed his hand.

"Don't you think it's a little strange that all the lights in the rooms are off?" he said pointing towards dormitory. "I think we should use the back door."

"Oi, don't exaggerate Keigo," the younger teen took his boyfriend's hand and pulled him to the dormitory's door that were situated at the other side of the building. He pressed the door knob and they went inside. The noise and flashing lights made him to curse himself in his mind quietly for not listening to the Monkey King before.

"Yay! Ochibi you have finally returned!" exclaimed Kikumaru, bouncing already towards him and hugging him tightly. Too tightly for Ryoma's liking. As if any hugging would be to his liking.

"Where have you been Echizen?! You promised to treat me for burgers!" the spiky black head shouted to him. His voice could be heard easily, despite the loud music that was coming from the speakers. It seems that even the slightest thought of eating was giving Momosiro more power. Maybe Inui should use it, while creating his training menu?

"Atobe, it's the party for you. Happy birthday!" Kikumaru was first to submit birthday wishes. The rest of the room followed him soon and now everybody raised their non-alcoholic drinks and made a toast.

"Ahn, thank you my loyal peasants" Keigo said in his everyday _I-am-the-best_ manner and looked around. His gaze stopped at the empty table in the corner. There was no food, only empty dishes. He reached to his pocked and took out his _magic_ golden credit card that was opening him many doors. He was about to hand it to Oshitari, but Echizen was faster and gave already his golden card to Eiji.

"Today it's my treat. Think of it as of the present Monkey King," he smirked to Atobe, but there was no malice. This brat was the only one, who knew about Keigo's real financial and family situation.

"Eeeee?!!" was simultaneous reaction, that came from Kikumaru and Momoshiro.

"Echizen has a golden card too?" someone from the crowd shouted.

"According to my data, Echizen has quite a sum of money right now, and after his last winning in US Open his account increased by another million dollars," Inui stated adjusting his glasses.

All eyes in the hall turned toward the unmoved young tennis star. _Echizen is a millionaire? And he wants to pay instead of Atobe? _None of the party's participant was aware that it's not the end of surprises for tonight.

"What are you doing brat?" asked Keigo giving his card to the former Hyotei tensai, "It's my birthday and it's the only right way for _me _to treat everyone. And _I _have told already what _I _want for a present, didn't _I_?"

Now the people were even more shocked than after what Echizen had made before. They were staying silent not knowing how to react. The diva just called himself _I _instead of _Ore-sama? _And more than once, so there is no mistake?

"Che, do whatever you want Monkey King" Echizen retorted and went up on the stairs not bothering himself to stay at the party. He wanted to take at least a short bath, before Keigo would come up to take his present.

-----

"It seems that something interesting has happened during the weekend, don't you think Fuji? Oshitari leaned down to the other genius.

"Saa, who knows. Shall we excuse ourselves from the party too? I fell like making a repeat from yesterday" Fuji rubbed discreetly his hand against the other tensai's erection making him tremble slightly. "I think that stretching exercises under the hot water are actually very healthy," he added squeezing Oshitari's already half hard penis.

The latter adjusted his fake glasses, trying to cover the light blush that was spreading on his face. Sometimes Fuji was really insatiable.

* * *

**A/N**: Please review, so I have motivation for writing, coz I have lots of good ideas =)


	11. Team USA

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**Warning #2: **This chapter is not beta-ed yet. It's been a long time since I've published last one, so it will be replaced later on.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R: **ryoka-chan, Mirsama, sukoi-sugoi, Pri-Chan 1410, Sanz0girl, hippy101, xxSnowxxAngelxx, HiKaRi-ChIbI, Lady Monozuki, Don Seira, EchizenRyomaLover, MandaxPanda, TQWEE, Rika-chi I really enjoyed reading your reviews.

**A/N**:Sorry Minna that you had to wait for so long. I have lots of work right now and hope that I will pass my philosophy exam on Friday, coz instead of studying I was finishing the chapter for you. One fluffy moment and lots of surprises is waiting ahead for you. Just to remind you: Tosaka-sensei is Ryoma's and the others tennis coach.

**ENJOY !**

**

* * *

  
**

**Chapter 11: Team USA**

_-----_

_**Previously on chapter 10:**_

"It seems that something interesting has happened during the weekend, don't you think Fuji? Oshitari leaned down to the other genius.

"Saa, who knows. Shall we excuse ourselves from the party too? I fell like making a repeat from yesterday" Fuji rubbed discreetly his hand against the other tensai's erection making him tremble slightly. "I think that stretching exercises under the hot water are actually very healthy," he added squeezing Oshitari's already half hard penis.

The latter adjusted his fake glasses, trying to cover the light blush that was spreading on his face. Sometimes Fuji was really insatiable.

_-----_

"Oi, Echizen-kun wake up," the girl sitting next to Ryoma whispered to his ear, "The teacher is coming, wake up," she shook his shoulder. The green-black hair boy slowly opened his eyes and jawed, stretching his body that became stiff from sleeping in an unnatural position on his school desk. Massaging his shoulders, he stood up from his seat and bowed together with his classmates to his teacher, who just came into classroom, carrying bundle of papers. The information about unsolicited English test met a loud protest and plea from the student.

Echizen took his exam paper and scanned it quickly. _Really why do they force me to attend this classes? _ He took a pencil and quickly solved the test. After all it wasn't Japanese, but English that was his first language.

"Are you done Echizen-kun?" the teacher asked seeing Ryoma trying to find the most comfortable position on his desk to take a next nap until the rest of the class would finish, "You may go then."

"Hai." Ryoma stood up, handed on the test to the teacher and left the classroom. They had an unwritten agreement, that if he finishes the given task before others, what happened always, he was excused from the rest of the English class in exchange of helping in the Students Council Room. He reached the second floor and entered the room.

"Watch you manners! Nobody taught you to knock, ahn?!" the silver-hair boy growled from behind his desk.

"Why do you have to be so loud this early in the morning Monkey King?"

"Ahn, it's you Ryoma. Shouldn't you have classes now?" Atobe asked seeing Ryoma approaching the couch. He grabbed the decorative pillow and kneaded it until he decided that it's soft enough to sleep on it.

"English test" Ryoma replied lying down on the sofa. Really, since Monkey King became his boyfriend, this whole _helping _at the Student Council became such a relaxing activity.

Ryoma took a quick glance at Keigo, before going to sleep. The diva was writing something on his laptop, his eyes focused on the screen. _Was he always so occupied? Does he care only about his work?_

Atobe was observing his boyfriend from the corner of his eyes. He clearly saw the hint of disappointment on his face, although the tennis star said nothing. And there was nothing Keigo could do right now. He wanted gave his boyfriend the good-night kiss but he couldn't. Not now. He had to concentrate on his work.

Twenty minutes later he finally finished his transaction. Hopefully it succeed. Atobe stood up from his chair and approached Ryoma. He looked down on him, then kneeled down and brushed aside the hair from an innocent looking face of his sleeping boyfriend.

"I'm sorry Ryoma," he whispered to his ear, placing a soft kiss on his lips, "I would like to spend more time together, but I'm doing it for you. If my father disinherits me I want to be able to provide you whatever you wish," he paused for a while and squeezed lightly Echizen's hand, "I love you Ryoma." Atobe stood up from his spot and went back to his desk. Next class is starting in few minutes and he still has some work to do.

_Baka Monkey King. I love you too. _

xxx

„Oi Echizen, are you listening to me?" Momoshiro knocked on his friend's head when he asked the same question for the second time, receiving no reply. "Why are spacing out?"

Echizen raised his head and looked at the spiky head with surprise, blinking as if he just woke up. "Oh, Momo-senpai. What are you doing here?"

"Huh? What do you mean by what am I doing here?!" the older boy stopped walking not knowing how to reply to Echizen's question. They've met at the school gate and now were going together to the tennis club. That brat greeted him five minutes ago and then what? He forgot about his presence, although Momoshiro was talking to him all this time?

"Oi Echizen what's wrong with you? You are in the state like this for the whole week now," he looked into those golden eyes which didn't seem to bother with this small fact. As Momoshiro was continuing with starring at the young prodigy, trying to figure out the answer himself, something rushed through his head. Momoshiro could swear that he has seen this gaze somewhere before. But where?

_Shit_, he knew exactly where he has seen it. It was almost three years ago when Echizen had to decide whether go to America and participate in the US Open, the dream of every tennis player, or to stay with his teammates and go together to conquer the National Tournament.

"Echizen if you have anything that troubles you can tell me. You can really tell me, you know." That time Momo made a huge mistake and because of his own selfishness he almost made Echizen a decision against his heart. He didn't want to undermine his trust for the second time.

But Ryoma wasn't listening again. He turned around and took his steps to the tennis house recalling his phone call with Kevin they had last week…

"…_We are coming next week Ryoma. All of us, the whole US Team."_

"_Ahn."_

"_You know Ryoma that you will have to tell them. Your senpai-tachi."_

"_Yadda." To be honest he has promised Tosaka-sensei, that he won't slip a word about it._

"_Don't be a child Ryoma. If you won't, they will find out by themselves at the press conference."_

"_Yadda. Why this stupid manager had to decide on this by himself?"_

"_You can ask him by yourself he is coming too, along with your father?_

"_What?! Why is _he_ coming too?"_

"_Oji-san said something about missing cute, little Japanese girls."_

"_Huh."_

"_But seriously, I think he will be our coach._

"_H__e is going to train us again? Last time we barely survived that training he has prepared for us."_

"_Don't mention it. I still think that is a miracle that we were able to stand on the court during the tournament. By the way Oji-san is asking if you have found already a girlfriend with a short-skirt school uniform that he could invite over for a dinner."_

"_Che, tell him Kevin that it's not his damn business."_

Echizen smiled mentally to himself entering the club house. His gaze met bare-chest Atobe, who was in the middle of the process of changing his clothes into his regular's jersey. Y_ou would be shocked Oyaji if you've found out that there is no cute girl, but a full grown, arrogant man instead. _He sighed slightly. Lately his mood wasn't good and he was walking pretty down, because of upcoming events. What's more he couldn't talk about it to anyone.

There was no Kevin around him, which by the way became his best friend during past years. He was his teammate and rival. They both suffered together the deadly training menus from his father and took parts in various matches and tournaments.

Echizen could say that there was no Keigo around him either. During past two week he almost hadn't seen his boyfriend. They were in different classes, che even on different floors of the school building. Not counting everyday tennis practices the diva was never around. He was so immersed in his work and additional law and economy studies, that he barely managed to find some time for sleep.

It's not that Ryoma had no friends. There were all his teammates for him, willing to help him with whatever the problem he had, but he just couldn't tell them. Not after they just reunited and not after the promised he made their coach. He had to find a way to deal with it by himself. He will talk to his manager and Oyaji as soon as he meets them.

At the Narita airport the dark hair man, wearing a robe sneezed. Were some cute girls talking about him? He rubbed his nose and turned around to the group of young boys standing behind him. Every of them were carrying a suitcase and a large tennis bag on their back. At the front of the group was standing Kevin. Right behind him two, at the first, and maybe the second glance too, identical twins were arguing fiercely trying to decide on which color they should dye their hair next.

Against the wall was leaning a tall brown hair boy. He was looking out the window, hands in the pockets of his jeans and the right foot pacing in the rhythm of the music coming from his headphones. At the back the last three players were standing talking about the tennis camp in Australia that has just finished. Among them there was a bespectacled boy, the strategist of the team, very handsome brunette who likes modeling as much as tennis, which assured him constant interest of media and fans and the inconspicuously looking teen who was becoming some kind of sadist when he enteres the court.

Nanjiroh looked at the young tennis players, then at the people around them and sighed. They were already catching the unwanted attention. They had to start to move before reporters would find out that they took an earlier flight and would try to take the information out of them before the official press conference begins.

"**Ok everyone, we are moving to the hotel,"** he communicated to the boys in English, **"I think that all of us deserve a hot bath." **At those words a few smiles appeared on the teens' faces. They just have finished a long and tiring flight, so bath and the dinner were all they were dreaming of right now. They took their language and slowly started to move toward the exit, leaving Kevin and Nanjiroh behind.

"Nanjiroh-san could you-"

"Yeah, yeah," Echizen senior waved his hand, giving the sign that he knew what Kevin was going to ask anyway, "II will take care of your luggage, so you can go to see Ryoma". _Really how came, that those two became so attached to each other? _

"Thanks," the blonde said and dashed out, somehow managing to maneuver between the large group of people that just was heading to the airport's restaurant.

"Be at six at the hotel and bring my seishounen with you," Nanjiroh shouted after the running boy, not sure however whether his voice reached him or not.

xxx

"Oi Momo, did something happen to Ochibi?" the red head asked, while finishing his last warm-up lap.

"I don't know Eiji-senpai. I seriously don't know," he sighed looking at the usually cocky freshman, who was awkwardly quiet lately.

"I hope Ochibi is not ill," Kikumaru said worriedly, emptying the whole glass of water. They had two minutes break, before the training would be revived "Maybe we should try to talk to him, nya?"

"It won't do Eiji-senpai, it won't. I tried already today but he didn't even listen to me. I don't know what to do." Momoshiro lowered his head and went on the court. It seems that Echizen's mood was already affecting others.

Kikumaru and Momo weren't the only ones, who noticed that something is not right with their favorite kouhai. At the other side of the court another two players were talking about the same problem , finding however completely different explanation to the whole situation.

"Troubles in paradise, ahn?" Oshitari asked his boyfriend, checking the strings in his racket.

"Saa, you spotted it too. Their relationship," Fuji smiled at the other tensai. The taller teen was really smart and knew far more things than he admitted. In fact even Fuji, who was quite capable, when it comes to reading other minds, wasn't able to guess his boyfriends thoughts. After all it was one of the reasons which lured him to Oshitari back then, when he has decided to start dating him.

"Your matchmaking abilities Fuji are at the very high level, although I don't think it was your real intention from the very beginning."

"Coz it wasn't," Fuji smiled and went to Inui, to help him bring five ball carts, the latter prepared for their next exercise. Behind the Data Man Kikumaru and Momoshiro were happily carrying cons in different colors. By now everybody knew what is next point on Inui's training list. Quite a big crowd of students started already to gather around the courts. Smashing the balls with a colored labels onto proper con was a definitely eye-catching excercise. It looked nothing like in the middle school.

All the players were divided into pairs. One of them was serving, the other was receiving and hitting the ball on the con, painted at the same color as the label on the ball. Each time the receiver failed to return or mistook the color his opponent gained a point. On the other hand, when he succeeded, he gained a point. The first one who gather 20 points wins. Those weird matches were not only an excellent way to improve the concentration and the assessing abilities of the players, but also a great entertainment for all the observers, since none of the players who were in charge of serving were sparing their partners.

And so, Atobe's Tannhauser Serve was giving a hard time to Tezuka, Fuji's Disappearing Serve was causing Kaidoh to lose 14 to 5 by now, Jiroh newest ability to change the angle of his wrist at the last moment before hitting the ball made Kikumaru to run around the whole court, Oshitari who, because of spending to much time with his boyfriend, became a little sadistic, was letting to win Oishi, only to reverse the tables in the blink of an eye later and Momoshiro's serve became so powerful over those years that the crowd was now looking at the prince of tennis who seemed to has quite a hard time returning the balls two-handed.

The commotion around the court was so big that nobody actually noticed that a teenager wearing jeans, dark red polo shirt and a blue cap was also observing the whole show.

"**Yo princess!"** he shouted in English after a while, gaining the whole attention of the crowd along with all the players.

Echizen turned around, his back at Momoshiro and yelled back to Kevin, **"Yo, blondie!" **

_Princess? Blondie? What are they talking about? _ were the common thoughts of most of the students around the court.

Echizen started to walk towards the exit when another yell could be heard. Just a second earlier Momoshiro has sent one of his most powerful shots at Ryoma and now the ball was approaching the freshman really fast, promising unbearable pain if not received properly. The soon to be victim didn't even bother to turn around. Echizen made a little, quick step to the right, raised his racket and hit the ball sending it onto the right con. He has seen the color of the label for a split second when Momoshiro was tossing the ball up and knew exactly where it should be returned.

"Hey Oishi," Kikumaru said still blinking in disbelief, "When Ochibi became so strong?" he asked not really expecting the answer. He just had to ask, to make sure he didn't hallucinate it.

The biggest shock, however, dropped on Momoshiro. _Did Echizen just returned his ultra fast and heavy ball using only one hand as it was nothing? _

_Ahn, he is good. That's my Ryoma. _Atobe smiled to himself, but the smile turned into a grimace immediately, when he looked at his boyfriend's back, who was just greeting way to friendly with the newcomer.

Ryoma hit his fist against Kevin's, first from the top, then from the bottom and straight on front at the end. It was a greeting they have developed long time ago and became their habit by now.

"**I thought you were coming later in the afternoon****."**

"**We were supposed to. But we managed to catch the earlier flight and thanks to this avoid the reporters on the airport. Rick and the others are already at the hotel. Did you tell them already?" **Kevin asked pointing the regulars on the court.

"**Not yet."**

"Echizen, get back to the practice! And make 10 laps before you do so. Same applies to everyone. Get back to work." Tezuka effectivly brought back everybody to their training.

"Haai," Ryoma replied and without any argument started to run.

Everone, but Keigo who was busy with throwing angry glares in Kevin's direction, obediently, but reluctantly listened to their captain. At the moment when Tezuka was about to order? the diva some laps their coach entered the court and stopped the practice.

"Please gather around" Tosaka-sensei requested staying at the sideline. It was quite unusual for her to interrupt the practice like that. She must have had something very important to communicate them. Last time she did so, Echizen joined their team.

In the blink of an eye all he players were standing in the straight rows with the regulars at the front.

"Oi, isn't it Kevin Smith?" one of the boys in the third row asked his friend quietly.

"You mean the one who won last Australian Open?" he made sure looking at the newcomer. His cap was pulled low, covering most of his face, but revealing the blond hair stuck out from beneath it. He was leaning against the pole, his legs crossed, hands inside the pockets of his jeans. "It can't be. What would he do here in Japan?"

"How should I now?"

"It's him, ne Fujiko?" Kikumaru asked the tensai.

Fuji replied saying only shortly "Hmm" as a confirmation. First Echizen's weird and antisocial, even as for him, behavior and now the visit of Kevin. _Something big is definitely going to happen. It will be interesting. _

"Minna, I have a surprise for you" Tosaka-sensei started, gesturing over to Kevin, giving him a sign to come closer. "It's Kevin Smith," she pointed at the boy, now standing next to her

"Hello," he said in Japanese, then lowered his head and bowed. He has just removed his cap, so there was no more uncertainty who was he.

"Some of you have met him already three years ago. He was the captain of the US Team during the Goodwill Game," the couch continued looking at her players. Atobe was still glaring at Kevin with anger, Tezuka was motionless as always, Fuji opened his eyes for a second, but closed them soon enough when a smile popped up his face. The expressions of the rest of the regulars showing rather joy from the meeting while non-regulars looked shocked as if they saw a ghost.

Ryoma was observing the whole scene while running the laps, his captain ordered him just a while ago. _Mada, mada dane_ he thought, when he saw his teammates' reactions, first when they saw Kevin and second when Tosaka-sensei has told them that the training was over for today and they are going to the Hilton hotel, where they would meet players from other school and would be given further explanations.

"Oh Echizen-kun, you can go with Smith-kun. I think you would like to greet everyone," the couch said to Ryoma, who has just finished his laps and joined his friends.

"Hai," he replied and left the court with Kevin, creating quite a ruckus among the students, they were passing by.

"**I've got a surprise for you Ryoma."**

"**Huh? What is it?"**

"**Hehe, you will see later on,"** the blond retorted mysteriously and followed Ryoma to the club house, where the later could take a shower and change.

xxx

"Yuukimura"

"Tezuka," the captains exchanged the greetings. When Tawamure's regulars reached the hotel, Rikkai Dai High players were already there.

"What are you doing here you red head?" Gakuto asked in an accusing tone, pointing out Kikumaru. They were like Momo and Kaidoh, when stuck in the same room. The former Hyotei player was now, together with Ootori and Shishido, Rikkai Dai High students.

"I should be the one who asks, you bouncing kangaroo," Kikumaru replied without thinking. Almost each of their _conversations_ was starting like that.

"Who are calling kangar-"

"Enough you two. One more word and you will be running laps around the hotel," growled Sanada effectively putting an end to the upcoming quarrel.

"Hahaha" Kirihara burst into laugh, unfortunately to loud to his fuku-buchou liking. One angry glare from his vice-captain and his good humor vanished in an instant.

Sanada rubbed his temples and approached the two captains, who were talking about the information they have just received from their coaches.

"Ah, Sanada I have a favor to ask," Tezuka said looking at the Rikkai Dai vice-captain.

"Yeah, I know. I've got it with," he replied before Tawamure's captain has a chance to explain anything. After all Sanada was his supplier since the beginning and everything started from him. Still rubbing his temples he recalled the passing day Dealing with the whole one hundred-members tennis club, effectively took away all his good mood.

"You know you shouldn't overuse it, don't you?" Yuukimura asked worriedly, addressing both Sanada and Tezuka. At the beginning of the high school, it started quite innocently, but now it could be easily called addiction and neither of them was willing to admit it. "How much did you took today Gen?"

"Two."

"And you Tezuka?"

"One. It was my last one," Tawamure's captain admitted.

"You see, I told you that you are addicted. Gen don't you dare giving Tezuka anymore pills, and I'm confiscating yours too. From today on, no more pain killers," Yuukimura glared at his vice-captain. His gaze was clearly informing that he wasn't kidding and no one wanted to stay against him when he decided something with such a determination.

Both Sanada and Tezuka looked at each other and sighed. They knew that it was a wise decision, dictated by concern for their health, but at the very thought of the upcoming days they wanted to take another pill or two. It will be a way through hell, not only for them, but also for everyone who will appear within a range of at least 20 feet from them.

"Oh, I see our two strongest opponents are already here," the blond, short haired teen stated, when he entered the room followed by his regulars. He promptly took in all the players that were already occupying the large hotel room, right next to the hall.

"Oh, Tachibana-san. Welcome."

"Hello Momoshiro. I hope that you are treating An well, otherwise you know…" He didn't have to finish his sentence, because the killer aura around him was talking by itself.

Momo instinctively backed a few steps and trampled Kaidoh on the foot by an accident.

"Oi what are you doing Peach-head?!"

"It's not my fault that you are standing in my way Mamushi!"

"What did you said?" Kaidoh hissed, clenching his fists, "You are the one, who got scared of Tachiibana-san."

"Huh?! Who was scared?!" Momoshiro's face darkened when he turned around and faced his roommate.

"Stop it you too," Oishi stepped in-between his juniors expertly interrupting their quarrel. Really, he had such a high skill already, that he should have been given a medal or two.

"Oh Sengoku, you came."

"Hello Fuji, how are you?"

"Good, thank you. I've heard that you gave up tennis for boxing, but it seems that it was only a rumor," the tensai lifted his head and smiled.

"I see that you are well informed as always."

"Saa," Fuji smiled, but his eyes opened and narrowed dangerously when he spotted, who just have joined them. "I'm sorry Sengoku, but there is someone I would really like to greet," the tensai said and left the lucky player to rescue his precious little brother from Mizuki's claws.

Sengoku sighed and addressed Oshitari, who was observing the whole situation staying cool as a cucumber, "His brother complex is unbelievable."

"Tell me about it."

"Huh, where is Echizen?" Kirihara asked Momoshiro, "I've heard that he is now at your school."

"He was dismissed by our coach. I'm sure that he is sleeping somewhere right now. He has quite a problem with paparazzi."

"I see, so he is that popular," Ibu joined the conversation, "I'm sure that he is very proud about it and looks down on us just because he won some tournaments and thinks that he is better than us."

"Ekhm, he is actually better than us," Momoshiro cut Ibu's monolog.

Few minutes later the whole room was filled with high school tennis players. Some of them had friendly chats, some of them were arguing, but all of them wandered why exactly they were called here in the first place.

"May I have your attention please?" Tosaka-sensei asked stepping on the platform next the wall, followed by the tennis coaches of all the arrived teams. When the noise faded, she looked at her watch. _Not so much time for explanations. _"I'm sure that all of you are curious about the whole situation, as well as all of you have heard already that the US Team has come to Japan," she looked at the boys who nodded in confirmation. "Starting tomorrow all of you will anticipate the two weeks training camp together with our guests from oversees," she paused. As expected this information caused quite a commotion. Indeed it may seem really sudden for all the boys, but the coaches agreed beforehand not to tell them anything until the last moment, so they wouldn't be distracted from their usual practices.

When the noise of over fifty males' voices gained on strength Tezuka and Sanada turned around rapidly, silencing players immediately. They were starting to painfully feel the lack of their pills, so their noise tolerance dropped rapidly.

Yuukimura looked at them and chuckled _The camp is promised to be interesting._

When not a single sound could be heard Tosaka-sensei decided to continue what she had to say, "At the end of the camp eight players will be chosen to represent Japan during the Goodwill Game. Remember that all of you have a chance, so do your best." She checked her watch one more time. _The rest of the story must wait for later. _"You will be given all the necessary information later, so please follow me now," she went of the podium and led them through the hotel lobby to the room filled with reporters. The press conference were about to start any minute. The players leaned against the wall at the opposite site for the place where the Team US was supposed to show up.

When Kikumaru was about to ask Oishi if he would go with him to buy a new toothpaste the tall, blond man entered the room and took a place in the middle of the scene. He grabbed the microphone and welcomed everyone. He was talking for a few minutes, building up the tension before announcing "And now I have a great pleasure to introduce you the eight shining stars of America's tennis world. Ladies and gentlemen, the Team USA!" he pointed the doors behind him, that opened letting the eight teens inside. They were wearing black shorts, white polo shirts with the small USA flag emblem on the chest and the dark-blue jerseys with the white stripe along the sleeves.

As soon as they entered the room all the reporters stood up from their seats and started to take photos. Lots of them. The dazzling light from the cameras filled the whole room, but none from the US players seemed to be concerned about it. The team was led by Kevin, but it was the appearing offthe last member, that caused the biggest commotion.

"Echizen?!"

"Ochibi?!"

"Oooh"

"What is Echizen doing there Yukimura-buchou? I thought that he is attending Tawamure High right now."

"Ya, Oishiiii, what is Ochibi doing there? He should be here with us."

"Damn Echizen how could he betrayed us like that?!" Momoshiro exclaimed.

"Fsss, shout up peach-head. He must have had a good reason to do so."

"He is right Momoshiro," Inui adjusted his glasses, "Echizen lived in America for the last three years and the probability that he was drafted to this team long time ago is one hundred percent," he explained slowly writing something in his notebook as he used to do.

Among all the players, there was one who felt hurt most out of all of them. Looking calm and composed on the surface, Atobe was trembling with anger inside. Not because he felt betrayed that Ryoma was on the theirs' enemy's team, not because it surprised everyone around, but because it surprised _him_, because Ryoma _didn't_ tell him anything. They were together for only two weeks, but they _**were**_ together so he had a full right for being informed, hadn't he? He looked at his boyfriend. _That brat will have lots of things to explain later. _

"And now let's listen a few words from the captain" the blond man, who spoke at the beginning announced, leaving the empty space in front of the microphone. All the Japanese players awaited Kevin, who led their team inside, to step forward, but instead they observed as their opponents drew aside letting the black-green haired boy to approach the microphone.

"I'm Echizen Ryoma, the captain of the Team USA. Yoroshiku."

* * *

**A/N**:Ok, it turned kinda unexpectedly for me too. I didn't plan the camp, but it came by itself while I was writing. Hmm, Echizen playing on the Team USA, I'm still not sure about it. What do you think? I hope you liked Ryoma's end Kevin's nicknames =) Please review.


	12. Break up?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**Warning #2: **This chapter is not beta-ed yet. It will be replaced later on.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R: **Lolita-mist, ryoka-chan, wuzimiko, kikumarubazooka, tsub4ki, denizen of the night, hippy101, Pri-Chan 1410, 17, misaki, MandaxPanda, chibi-mary-chan, erisreigned, Sanz0girl, TQWEE, secret25, HiKaRi-ChIbI, Rika-chi, - rozardoll., Koshimae Ryo, YaoiFanGirl2ndnature

**Thank you all! You've made me the happiest author in the world!!!**

**A/N**:SURPRISE! I wasn't planning on updating for more or less two weeks because of work/exams, but the amount of the reviews I have received made me so, so happy that I couldn't help it, but to write another chapter. Here in Poland it's already 14th February so happy Valentine's Day! I hope that after reading this chapter you won't hate me. Remember that I wish all the best for Ryoma and Keigo!

**ENJOY !**

**

* * *

****Chapter 12: Break up?**

_-----_

_**Previously on chapter 11:**_

"_And now let's listen a few words from the captain" the blond man, who spoke at the beginning announced, leaving the empty space in front of the microphone. All the Japanese players awaited Kevin, who led their team inside, to step forward, but instead they observed as their opponents drew aside letting the black-green haired boy to approach the microphone. _

"_I'm Echizen Ryoma, the captain of the Team USA. Yoroshiku."_

_-----_

"Wha... Wh.. Wnen?" Kikumaru was trying to formulate a proper question, clinging into Oishi's sleeve. The latter however, was unable to reply. He was standing stunned, looking at Echizen.

The press conference was over and the only reminder in the room was Japanese players. They still couldn't believe their eyes seeing the Team USA with it's captain ahead was approaching them.

"Ouch, fsss. What are you doing you Peach-head?" Kaidoh hissed when Momoshiro pinched him on his arm. It definitely was going to leave a mark since the spiky head sometimes didn't realize how strong he was.

"Shut up Mamushi. I'm just making sure that it's not a dream," Momoshiro muttered rubbing his eyes.

"Huh, he likes it. He really likes it," mumbled Ibu at the other side of the room.

"What are you talking about Shinji?" Kamio knew this guy for almost half of his life, but he still cannot, and probably never will, understand how his twisted mind is working.

"Being in the center of interest. That Echizen. Everything he does seems so cool and everybody keeps talking about him. I really don't like such a behavior, although I also think that it's so cool. Really, I'm envious about him and angry at myself at the same time."

"He is unpredictable as ever, that boya," Yukimura smiled looking at Ryoma who was now just few feet away from them.

"Echizen," Tezuka spoke when Ryoma stopped in front of him. The expression in his eyes was inscrutable.

"Buchou, I-"

"Ochibi, how could you?" Kikumaru interrupted his kouhai in half a word, wearing very disappointed look.

"Oi, Eiji calm down. I'm sure Echizen will explain everything," Oishi tried to restrain his doubles partner from jumping to the front. He very well understood how his partner has felt, but still believed that their freshman had a good excuse. After all they were friends.

"Let me go Mamushi," Momoshiro desperately tried to relieve himself from Kaidoh's tight grip, "I said let me go! I want to talk to that little punk."

"Stop struggling you stupid Peach-head or I will hit you in that empty head of yours," Kaidoh hissed, tightening the grip on Momoshiro's arms even more. How did he end up babysitting this overgrown child?

"Silence," Tezuka cut all the complaints and grumbling, then turned to the boy standing in front of him, "You have got something to tell us, Echizen."

"I'm sorry senpai-tachi, but I couldn't tell you earlier. And as you can see I am not in a position to abandon this team," he pointed the boys standing behind him.

"**Oi captain, I don't know what you are talking about, but shouldn't you at least introduce us?"** one of the twins from the Team USA asked in English. This innocent at the first sight question made quite a ruckus. None of the Japanese players would ever believe, if they didn't hear it with their own ears, that their ever cocky and arrogant kouhai would be called a captain.

"**Yeah, you should princess,"**Kevin spoke putting his hands into the pockets of his shorts.

"Hahahaha," Kirihara started to laugh madly and couldn't stop it. "Princess? Hahaha. You are so lame Echizen."

Ryoma narrowed his eyes, but before he could say anything Sanada groaned "Cut it out Akaya. You will be assigned proper punishment later."

"Hai, hai"

"**Che,****" **Echizen sighed. He will deal with Kirihara at the camp. Now he wanted to finish this whole presentation thing as soon as possible. **"Let me introduce my team,"** he started as he used to do during the meeting with sponsors, his manager drags him into, but continued in more unofficially tone, **"I believe that all of you know already this blondie," **Ryoma gestured to his right. **"Kevin is my vice-captain. Those two are Matt and Alex,"** he pointed the twins standing besides him. Wearing the same uniforms they looked totally alike. **"I wish you luck distinguishing them."**

"**Oi captain! I'm Alex,"** the boy on the left exclaimed.

"**And I'm Matt,"** the other twin jumped to the front.

"**Jeez, they are it again," **a tall, brown hair shook his head, **"They are never tired of this game."**

"**Yeah, right. I know exactly which one of you is which,"** Ryoma turned facing the twins.

"**Sorry captain, but this time you are wrong, right ****Matt?" **the one calling himself Alex asked his brother and smiled pugnaciously.

**"That's right Alex,"** the other replied revealing the whole range of his teeth.

**"If I were you I would shut up as soon as possible, before you will earn laps around the hotel,"** the brown hair teen spoke once again. Somehow he became the one holding the twins out of trouble, which they seemed to attract like a magnet.

"Hmm, interesting," Inui adjusted his glasses, "There is one hundred percent that Echizen has learnt this from Tezuka."

**"Huh, what did he said?"** one of the twins asked.

**"He said that Ryoma has learnt it from Tezuka,"**Kevin replied pointing out the stoic Tawamure's captain standing in front of them. He was looking mature as always with his imposing figure that kept everyone at the distance from him. Unfortunately it was way to little for thee twins to get scared.

**"Huh?!" **both of them exclaimed simultaneously, live fire burning in their eyes, **"So YOU are the one behind all the laps we had to run till now?!"** Alex moved forward and tilted his head up a little to look straight into Tezuka's eyes, which expressed no emotion as always.

**"Do you have any idea, what we had to go through because of YOU?!"** Matt didn't fall behind his brother and now two angry pairs of eyes were piercing Tezuka to undisguised delight of Fuji and Yukimura and horror of most of the other players.

**"Twenty laps around the hotel. Now,"** Echizen ordered the twins, effectively preventing the twins from venting his anger on Tezuka.

**"But Ryoma, it's all this guy's fault that-"**

**"Thirty. "**

**"Didn't I tell you?"** the brown hair boy shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. _Those two will never learn._

**"But-"**

**"Oi Matt, stop it already. I don't want to run until the dawn,"** the one calling himself Matt earlier put his hand on his brother's shoulder trying to pull him back. The latter, although reluctantly, listened to his twin and both of them left the room. The faster they will start, the faster they will finish.

"Oi Eiji, why are you crying now?" Oishi tried to calm down his doubles partner, who was now sobbing onto his sleeve, mumbling some incomprehensible words.

"I'm just so moved Oishi. Our Ochibi has grown so much," the red-head smiled, whipping of his tears, arousing weak chuckling from Fuji.

"Ekhm, I will continue if you don't mind," Echizen cleared his throat and continued, **"The one in charge of the twins is Rick,"** he pointed the tall brown boy, who has now the headphones in his ears. He was already in his own world and didn't care about anything around him.

**"The one over there is David,"** Echizen introduced the bespectacled teen, standing at the end of their team. He looked perfectly normal. There wasn't a single thing distinguishing him from the crowd. That is until he speaks. With his IQ far beyond the level considered an average and his ability to absorb the knowledge, there wasn't a single person that wasn't either delighted or annoyed.

"I'm David. Nice to meet you," he spoke in fluent Japanese to everyone's great surprise.

"Oh, I see you can speak Japanese?" Yukimura smiled with his most innocent smile, which dangerously resembled the one of Fuji's.

"When I was a kid I've spent some time in this country due to my father's work," David explained shortly, not delving into details.

"I hope we will have an occasion to hear more about it during the camp," the Rikkai Dai captain said, then turned to Ryoma, "Now Echizen-kun has two more people to introduce."

**"**Hai, hai.** This is Julian,"** Ryoma pointed the handsome brunette who was typing on his phone with an extraordinary speed.

**"Didn't I see you somewhere before?"** Sengoku asked trying to recall where from could he has known this face

"Huh, you too fuku-buchou?" Kamio scratched his head.

**"You are a model Julian, am I right?"** Fuji spoke, receiving revealing 'aah' from Sengoku.

**"Of course I'am. No wonder that my fame reached also this place,"** brunette smiled widely showing his left profile, exactly in the same way as in the last add, he posed for.

"Ne Atobe, doesn't his attitude remind you of someone?" Oshitari tried to provoke a little unnaturally silent ex-captain.

"Ore-sama has no idea what are you talking about Oshitari. Are you insinuating something, ahn?" Keigo definitely wasn't in a mood for any ambiguous conversation. Since Ryoma appeared at the hotel he didn't look at Atobe at all. No a single glance. Atobe desperately tried to seek even the least hint of distress or regret in his boyfriend's eyes for not telling him a single word, but no matter how hard he wanted too find it, he just couldn't. He felt an ache in his heart. No matter how bad he might feel about it, he couldn't show any weakness. He put his hands into his pockets and turned around.

"Oi Atobe, where are you going?" Oshitari asked when the diva started to walk away, "Aren't you going to stay till the end of presentation."

"I'm not interested," he replied not slowing the pace and left the room. He needed some fresh air to cool his head and to think about what has gone wrong. It's true that he was the one who seduced the brat, but he didn't oppose it as much as Keigo assumed. He could swear that during the past weeks Ryoma really started to feel something deeper for him. Not to mention sex they had. Was is nothing for him. Just a friendly favor?

Echizen observed the whole scene between Atobe and Oshitari. He really wanted to catch Keigo and explain him everything, but he still has duties as a captain. _Damn, whose idiotic idea it was to make me a captain?! _So what he was the best player of his team. It doesn't mean that Kevin or Rick couldn't take his position as a leader. _Damn Kevin, damn Oyaji, damn , damn all of you._

When the short conversation between Fuji and Julian, about the magazines the latter appeared in, was over Ryoma introduced the last member of his team.

**"This is Tony,"** he pointed the boy about his height with light hair and friendly looking eyes. The soft smile on his face made him looking so innocent and harmless, that it was really hard to believe that he has beaten lots of rivals before he was enrolled to the strongest high school team in the USA. **"So this is the whole team,"** Ryoma finished his introduction, then turned to his teammates,** "And those are my seniors from Japan. That's all."**

"Oi Echizen!" Momoshiro exclaimed gaining the whole attention, "Aren't you going to introduce us as well?"

"Look around Momo-senpai. How long do you think would it take?"

"He is right Momoshiro. You can do it at the camp," Tezuka finally spoke. Everyone was curios to see, what the stoic captain had to tell to Ryoma. After the Nationals he left Japan, but he has never left his former teammates hearts. They always considered him one of them. Now he came back, reunited with them and instead of standing with them at the same half of the court he appeared as their enemy.

"Bucho, I-"

"Echizen," Tezuka interrupted Ryoma in half of the sentence, "You shouldn't call me like that, until the Goodwill Game is over. I've talked to Tosaka-sensei and know that you have promised to keep silence about it, but now you are the captain and the pillar of support for your team. Rest assured that we will do our best and won't go easy on you."

"Same here, Tezuka-senpai. Yudan sezu ni ikkou*," Echizen smirked and turned around leading his team out of the room.

"Oi Eiji, are you alright?" Oishi grabbed red head arm, when the latter slid down onto his knees.

"Let him be Oishi," Fuji put his hand on Tawamure's mother-hen's shoulder in a reassuring squeeze, "He is just little dazed from the excess of shocking information."

"What are you going to do now Tezuka?" Sanada asked turning to the Tawamure's captain, "This may affect the spirit in your team."

Tezuka closed his eyes, crossed his arms and lowered his head a little. _Sanada may be right. This whole situation may cause trouble. Hopefully the morale will go up when the team finds out why Echizen didn't say anything._ When Tezuka was analyzing all the options to solve the occurred problem, the blue hair captain of Rikkai Dai pulled him out of his thoughts.

"You should have more faith in them. Look," he smiled and pointed the players behind them. Momoshiro was already burning almost like Kawamura, Kaidoh was talking with Inui about new training regime, Ibu was mumbling something under his nose and Kirihara was arguing with lively as ever Kikumaru. And that's all thanks to Sengoku, who mentioned in his conversation with Tachibana, that now it will be a great chance for him to play against Echizen and measure his skills against the pro. This sentence has a salutary impact on all the gloomy players, boosting their spirits and restoring the atmosphere of friendly rivalry.

While the positive vibrations were filling the hotel room, which all the Japanese players were still occupying talking about the upcoming camp and declaring that they will be the ones chosen to the National team, the atmosphere in the apartment number one at Tawamure's dormitory was exactly the opposite.

When the whole introduction of his team was over Echizen has hurriedly left the hotel and arrived to school. He hoped that Atobe came back to their room and wasn't mistaken. The diva was sitting at his desk scanning some documents. _Jeez, nothing but work._

"Why did you left so suddenly, Monkey King?" he asked, but Atobe didn't even raised his head. "Keigo, are you listening to me?"

" …"

"Kei," Ryoma repeated for the third time, clenching his fists. He came here as soon as possible, trying to explain everything and say that he was sorry for not telling anything, but the Atobe was either not interested in the conversation or too much absorbed by his _stupid_ work that he didn't even realize that Echizen has came.

"Fine, if the work is so important for you that you don't have even a time to look at me, let it be," Echizen's nerves snapped. He was so angry and disappointed, that if he only had a tennis ball in his hand he would definitely crush it. He took a deep breathe, lifted his suitcase that was lying in the corner of the room and tossed it onto bed. Then he opened the wardrobe and started to throw out all the necessary things and clothes he would need at a camp.

"Ore-sama has no time to look at you Ryoma, ahn?" Keigo finally spoke, lifting his head, looking as his boyfriend was packing his luggage. He came to the room half an hour ago and tried to forget about everything. He took some documents from the drawer with a greatest intention to read them, but all he could do was starring bluntly at the sheets in his hands. "If Ore-sama recall it correctly, and be sure that Ore-sama's memory is very good, you were the one who didn't look at Ore-sama at all the whole day and apparently you think that Ore-sama is not good enough to be informed that his own boyfriend is going to play for the opposite team," he spoke at one breath.

Echizen fastened the zipper from his suitcase and throw his tennis bag on his shoulder, "Even if I would tell you, you wouldn't listen to me. Lately you do nothing but work!"

"…"

"Che, you don't even deny it," Echizen put on his Fila cap and grabbed his suitcase, "I'm going to sleep at the hotel today. See you at the camp Monkey King," he left the room and shut the door behind him with a loud bang, leaving Keigo alone in their room. Was it over to their freshly blossoming love? In the end Ryoma was too stubborn to come back and Keigo was too proud too call him back.

* * *

*Don't let your guard down (but I think that all of you know it already)

**A/N:**Yeah… their first serious quarrel… I hope you don't want to kill me for this. As I wrote at the beginning: Remember that I wish all the best for Ryoma and Keigo. How do you like Team USA?

In the next chapter: The beginning of the camp!


	13. The camp begins

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**Warning #2: **This chapter is not beta-ed yet. It will be replaced later on.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R: **YaoiFanGirl2ndnature, HiKaRi-ChIbI, chibi-mary-chan, denizen of the night, erisreigned, TQWEE, wuzimiko, Rika-chi, DarkAndStormyNight, ryoka-chan, Koshimae Ryo, sukoi-sugoi, Sanz0girl, Lady Monozuki, Pri-Chan 1410, MandaxPanda, Don Seira, - rozardoll., herbblood, secret25, tsub4ki, EchizenRyomaLover, AnimelovingCat, lajascot, UekiKosuke I'm really happy =)

**A/N**:Sumimasen minna that you had to wait for so long. I really wasn't able to write the next chapter sooner. To make you up for this I'm giving you a long one with a surprise at the beginning. Just to remind you – Keigo's father is Kazuhiro.

**ENJOY !**

**

* * *

  
**

**Chapter 1****3: The camp begins. **

_-----_

_**Previously on chapter 1**__**2:**_

"_Che, you don't even deny it," Echizen put on his Fila cap and grabbed his suitcase, "I'm going to sleep at the hotel today. See you at the camp Monkey King," he left the room and shut the door behind him with a loud bang, leaving Keigo alone in their room. Was it over to their freshly blossoming love? In the end Ryoma was too stubborn to come back and Keigo was too proud too call him back._

_-----_

**LEMON WARNING**

The black hair teen kissed his lover and pushed him onto the bed. Not breaking the kiss he moved his hands up revealing well shaped abs. Years of training tennis clearly formed this lean body. He unbuttoned brown hair young man's shirt kissing his way up from the belly button, through the collar bone up to the neck. He could feel his lover's hands plaiting behind his head, pulling him down, lusting for the kiss. With no reason to oppose he lowered his face and covered his lover's lips with his own, feeling creeps all over his body, when the cold hands started to brush his back. The kiss was long and deep, but something was missing. It wasn't as passionate and breath-taking as usually. The black hair boy broke of the kiss and sat on the bed. He looked at his half-naked boyfriend with understanding. To be honest he was perfectly aware of the reason for his lover being so concerned. After all he was the one who initiated it and now it seems that everything was falling apart. He took one more glance at the young man lying on the bed. There was no sign of his ever-present smile. The black-hair teen sighed and asked, "Are that worried about them Fuji?"

Before they came to the room they happen to see angry Echizen leaving a dormitory, carrying a luggage. Adding the mood Atobe was in for the whole day and the way he was behaving during Team USA's presentation, it wasn't hard to figure out that those two had a quarrel and judging from the intensity with which Ryoma shut the door behind him the argument was rather serious.

"Saa, it was such a nice view to see them together, although they pretended that nothing was between them. All those trips and interviews must have been hard for Echizen during those past few years, but lately he started to look… I don't know… happier?"

"Heh, I think I know what you are talking about Fuji. Since Atobe entered the high school he was pretty busy with his work and this year I really started to worry about him. He may not show it, but it was a hard time for him and since they became close with Echizen he somehow calmed down a little."

"They are meant to be together don't you think?" Fuji smiled sitting up.

Oshitari nodded, but then a weird feeling shook his body. By now he knew exactly what was it. He looked at his boyfriend and saw the sparkles in his open eyes. The tensai was definitely up to something and nothing was going to stop him now. _Really he is so cute when determined like that. _

The former Hyotei tensai leaned down pushing Fuji back to the horizontal position placing a wet and hot kiss on his lips. His hands started to wander all over Fuji's bare upper-body. The tensai moaned when Oshitari bit one of his nipples. The shivers that went down his back made him to arch, pushing him deeper into the bed and automatically lifting the lower part of his body up, which resulted in groans and moans from the other tensai. Oshitari got visibly bigger under the touch and shuddered. His mouth was now making its way down Fuji's chest, leaving the wet trace of saliva behind.

Fuji immersed his right hand in Oshitari's hair and led him, without a false prudery straight to his erection, giving his lover clear information about his needs. Oshitari didn't have to be told twice. He unbuttoned Fuji's pants and took them off, together with the black boxers. Now the light hair tensai was lying on the bed fully exposed to his boyfriend, lusting for his mouth on his cock.

To his undisguised satisfaction soon enough he felt warm and wet tongue licking the top of his head. Oshitari was playing with him in the most teasing way. He was licking, kissing, even biting slightly, but never took him fully into his mouth. Fuji tried his best bearing with this growing, yet insatiable sensation, but he lost in the end. He pulled Oshitari down making him to fully cover his erection. The later didn't even choke. He lifted his head up only to remark that Fuji is as demanding as ever, than came back to his previous occupation, receiving loud moans and groans from the other tensai.

Fuji withstood it for a while, relishing with the growing heat that was quickly overwhelming his whole body and making his mind blank, before he climaxed, spitting his semen right into Oshitari's throat. The latter, supported on his arms, drew closer to Fuji's face letting him to lick the rest of his own seeds, which have left around his lips, sliding two fingers inside his lover's entrance at the same time.

Fuji groaned in pleasure at the friction, digging his teeth into Oshitari's shoulder. With each push he was leaving deeper and deeper marks on his boyfriend's arm. Once Oshitari decided that his Fuji is ready he lifted his hips, positioning himself between his legs and trusting completely inside. The feeling of Fuji clenching around him has made him even bigger. He groaned in pure ecstasy when Fuji moved his hips, making Oshitari to slide in and out. Both of them wanted more, harder, faster. With each thrust they were closer to blast from the growing sensation. Oshitari reached down between them to grab Fuji's again erect penis and rubbed it until they came together a moment later.

**LEMON END**

"You are amazing Fuji," Oshitari gasped rolling off his boyfriend on the bed.

"So you are," the other teen replied enhancing the pillow below his head. It was supposed to be the moment when they assure each other about their love, but it wasn't the case for them. They have never talked about their feelings, they didn't call each other by their first names. Their relationship was based on a mutual pleasure and benefits. They have never looked for the romantic feelings or sweet words. They just enjoyed it as it was.

xxx

Kevin was sitting in the floppy armchair in his hotel room, watching Ryoma's final match from the last tournament and sipping the cool beer. Those tiny refrigerators were undoubtedly one of the most useful equipment in the room. They were always full and never asked him how old he was.

It was only half an hour into the match and Ryoma was already leading 4 games to 1. Kevin hissed. He loved that cocky princess. He really loved him, as a brother and as a best friend, but it was such a frustrating feeling not being able to win against him at tennis. The same goes for Nanjiroh. The only comforting thought was that Ryoma was also losing to his father. By now their score of won matches against each other was somewhere around a tie. Lots of people would give everything they had to be in Kevin's shoes. He was able to train with both Echizens almost everyday, exploring their weaknesses and improving his own skills, playing against the best.

At the moment when the match came to an end, a loud sound of someone knocking the door filled the room. Kevin looked at the watch. It was already over ten p.m., so he decided to ignore it. Unfortunately the person on the other side of the door was extremely persistent.

"Oi, oi, I'm coming," Kevin shouted standing up from the chair. He reluctantly approached the door and ever more reluctantly opened them.

"What?" he really wanted to curse this person from the bottom of his heart, but resigned, when he saw, who was actually standing in front of him.

"Hmm, so this is how you greet your captain?"

"Ryoma? What are you doing here?" Kevin asked, letting his friend inside. He had his tennis bag and the suitcase with him.

Echizen stomped into the room and tossed his luggage into the corner saying devil's paternoster about Keigo. Kevin was looking at his friend half worried and half amused. He has never seen Ryoma in such a condition.

"Grr, damn Keigo. Does he think that work is everything?"

"Eh, Ryoma?" Kevin interrupted him watching as Echizen started to change into his tennis jersey, "Who the hell is this Keigo?"

The blond has talked over the phone with Ryoma couple of times since he came to Japan, but never has heard this name.

"He is ever-working, self-centered arrogant guy who thinks that he is the hub of the universe," Echizen replied putting on his favorite tennis t-shirt.

"Huh? It sound like this guy who was playing doubles one during Goodwill Game three years ago. What was his name? Abebe? Atodo?"

"Atobe Keigo," Ryoma replied, smiling a little inside at the very thought of the face, the Monkey King would make, if he hears it.

"Hmm."

"What?"

"So this is this Keigo you are sulking about," a cunning smirk popped onto Kevin's face. "Ne Ryoma, don't you call others by their surnames in Japan?"

"We do, so what about it?" Ryoma asked looking in his tennis bag for his wristbands.

"So why are you keep calling Atobe by his name? I thought that you do so, either with the closest friends or someone you have the intimate relationship with." Kevin wanted just to tease Ryoma a little, but when he saw his reaction he couldn't believe his eyes. _Bull's-eye?_

"Shut up Kevin and take your racket," Echizen ordered and adjusted his cap.

"Oi, don't tell me Ryoma that you and him…" Kevin bent over backwards trying to comprehend what he has just discovered. Seems that Ryoma has finally found someone he liked, but … it was a guy… Ok, it may not be so weird, because lots of men in the tennis world were gay, but at the top of all of, it was this pompous diva.

"Are you finished Kevin? " Ryoma asked exasperated, "Hurry up. We are going to the court, or do you maybe prefer to run around the hotel?"

_Huh, that's the whole Ryoma. Scrounging inside, demanding a tennis match and threatening with laps if the answer was not satisfactory for him. _

"Oi, oi. No need for to be so harsh. But are you sure? If we overdo it today, we won't be able to go through tomorrow's hell, prepared by your father."

"Hmm," the well-known insulting smirk popped into Echizen's face, "I had no idea that you are such a weakling, blondie."

"What?! Who are you calling a weakling princess?" Kevin grabbed his yellow racket together with a few balls and followed Echizen outside.

Good, that it was already pretty late and the street courts were empty, so nobody has seen what Ryoma was getting up. The score was four games to two for Kevin and Echizen has just sent another ball out. Not that it's something unusual during a tennis match. Unless it's the youngest US Open champion we are talking about, who just messed up another serve in a row.

Kevin looked worriedly as his friend was getting ready for the next shot. This whole case with Atobe must have strongly got in his hair. His muscles were strained, his eyes weren't focused on the ball and his mind was definitely somewhere else.

"Ryoma!"

"…"

"Oi, Ryoma! Are you listening?" Kevin took a ball out of his pocket and hit the Twist Serve causing the ball to fly right next to Echizen's ear, finally getting his attention. Ryoma lifted his head and saw Kevin who was just jumping over the net before reaching him. The blond teen looked into his best friend's golden eyes. They lacked the usual sparkle of cockiness and provocation.

"I forfeit Ryoma," Kevin truly wanted to defeat him, but not like that, "I have no idea what has happened between you and that Atobe guy, but I have no intention of playing you with such a half-assed attitude of yours."

"…"

"Fine. If you don't want to talk let it be, but let's head back to the hotel. It's almost midnight and tomorrow we have to wake up early in the morning."

Echizen grabbed the ball, he was bouncing for a while now, "Che, whatever," he put his racket behind his head and set off behind Kevin.

That night Ryoma had a big problem falling asleep, but even he gave up around two in the morning tired from all this thinking about Atobe.

xxx

"Huh? Where is Echizen?" Momoshiro asked, when the Tawamure's regulars gathered in front of the school gate waiting for the bus to arrive. All of them were in their tennis uniforms, the bunch of tennis bags and suitcases were lying on the ground.

"Don't worry Momo," Fuji replied when he saw that Atobe had no intention of giving the answer, "I'm sure, that he is with his team."

Those words still seem to create a weird atmosphere. They had a problem believing that Echizen is their opponent and additionally the most dangerous one.

"Isn't it our bus?" Kikumaru asked rubbing his eyes. He was still half asleep, but nevertheless his vision was above the average level.

When the white bus arrived Atobe took his belongings and disappeared inside the vehicle. He sat on the front seat, placed his chin on his hand and looked out the window.

"Huh?" Kikumaru blinked observing the diva. He wasn't the only one expecting some kind of cutting comment about the bus and that should have been used one of Atobe's limousines instead. "Is Atobe ill or something?"

"What are you talking about Eiji?" Oishi asked placing his baggage into the trunk. It barely could hold all their equipment.

"He is being really quiet since yesterday, don't you think?" Kikumaru lifted his head and looked into his doubles partner eyes searching for a confirmation. The latter observed their fuku-buchou for a while. _Maybe Eiji is right?_ Lately Atobe seemed to be tired and pale and the dark bags started to form under his eyes.

"He will be fine. Don't worry Eiji," Fuji placed a comforting squeeze on the read head's shoulder.

When everybody was already sitting in their seats, Tezuka stood up and went to the front.

"From today onwards we will be competing for the eight spots on the Team Japan. Everything is in your hands. I want to remind you what Tosaka-sensei said yesterday – all of you have a chance , so do your best," he finished and wanted to go back to his seat, but all the players were still gazing at him, waiting for something. Tezuka sighed slightly and added, "Yudan sezu ni ikkou."

xxx

20 miles to the north from Tokyo first busses full of young tennis players were crossing the gates of the Saitama Sport Center. It was the place where they were going to spend another two weeks, filled with the practice of their favorite sport.

"Damn, this place is huge!"

"Akaya watch your mouth," Sanada reprimanded his kouhai, but he had to admit that he also was impressed. He looked around and counted ten tennis courts plus the track around them. In front of them rose a huge two-storey building. Most of the walls on the first floor were made of glass so they could admire well-equipped gym and the inside swimming pool. This place was far more impressive than the one from three years ago.

"They have chosen pretty nice location for the camp, don't you think Genichirou?" Yukimura asked approaching his vice-captain. He was truly glad that this time he could be together with his teammates. After all he took a good decision making a gamble on that surgery. But again, what choice did he have? If he wouldn't decide on that operation back then, he wouldn't be able to play tennis now.

"Isn't it Sengoku and Tachibana with their team?" the Rikkai Dai High captain asked when the next bus arrived and another eight players joined them.

"Che, I don't know what they came here for. It's obvious that we will take all the spots."

"Akaya! Ten laps around the parking," Sanada ordered.

"Huh? But why? What did I-?"

"Twenty."

"Ok,ok. I understand Sanada-fuku-buchou." _Che, what bit him? He has been touchy from the very morning._

Sanada closed his eyes for a moment. He felt that the veins on his temples started to pulse and the pain was gradually putting on strength. He instinctively reached to his tennis bag looking for a small bottle, containing his life-saving pills. He opened the zipper and remembered that yesterday Yukimura forced him to give him all his priceless medicines. He tried his best not show how bad he was feeling right now, but the increasing noise didn't help him with that at all, especially when the next bus with the team from Osaka arrived.

At the moment when the bus door opened the red hair boy literally flew off from the inside of the vehicle.

"Koshimaeeee! Let's have a match Koshimae!"

"Stop screaming Kin-chan," Shiraishi tried to calm down a little this human ball of energy. He was especially overactive when it comes to matches with people he wanted to play.

"But I want to play Koshimae. You promised me, that I will be able to play him when we get here."

"Look around Kin-chan. Tawamure is not here yet." Like all the other teams they heard about the camp yesterday and because they just arrived to Tokyo, they didn't hear anything about Echizen playing for the Team USA.

The red head darken immediately. He was looking for this match since he found out that Ryoma came back to Japan. This one point match they had after the National semifinals, back in the middle school, was one of the best.

Half an hour later the parking was filled with chatting young men from all over Japan. The last team to arrive was the Team USA, making a big ruckus. Those who were absent during yesterday's presentation wanted to meet them, while those who, on the other hand, were present wanted to get know them better. The one shocked and disappointed the most was Kintarou. At least until Shiraishi pointed out that if he works hard during the camp he may be chosen as a member of the Japan Team and play Echizen in an official match.

Nanjiroh was observing interactions between the players that were slowly gathering in front of the main building in Saitama Sport Center. He was really glad to see so many young people whose passion was tennis… but why…? Why those were boys, not some cute girls running on the court in extra short skirts? He was totally loosing the hope that Ryoma would bring home one, especially after the phone call he received few days ago.

Nanjiroh sought out his son. He was standing with his teammates, looking unusually gloomy. He has heard from Kevin that he spent the night at the hotel. Nanjiroh looked closer at the young tennis players and promptly found out that a few of them standing together were captains. Among them there was this bespectacled boy, who led Ryoma few years ago and the one he was playing against during National finals. But they weren't the ones that caught Nanjiroh's attention. It was a grey-haired teen, standing with his arms crossed, throwing glances at Ryoma, who perfectly ignored them. _Really, he resembles his father so much. _

When Ryoma once looked at Atobe and their eyes met, he turned his head on the spot, what resulted in the same from Keigo's side. Nanjiroh chuckled. _Really, they are still mada mada dane. _

Nanjiroh straighten himself and scratch on the belly. He will have two full weeks to observe his son's love affair. Especially in the light of the phone call he received few days ago.

"_Nanjiroh it's me."_

"_Oh, what did I do to deserve an honor of you calling me?"_

"_I see your tongue is as sharp as ever, but let's go to the point. I have a request."_

"_It's nice too hear you too Kazuhiro. You must be in a huge pinch if you have decided to call me after all those years."_

"_Actually I have a problem with your son Nanjiroh. I have no idea what's going on with you Echizens, that you attract Atobes, but I won't allow you to hurt the next member of my family."_

"_You are still talking about it? It happened years ago and it's only you who still hold a grudge. I and Misako just weren't meant for each other."_

Nanjiroh's memories wander over twenty years to the past. He was winning the tournaments all over Japan and was in a mutual love with a beautiful girl. She had a milky complexion, silky black hair and long legs. Many people wonder what this stunning girl saw in him. They were together over a year and during this time often spent their time with her overprotective brother. They were like three musketeers. That is until Nanjiroh decided to go to America to fulfill his biggest dream and play tennis against the best of the world.

Misako somehow understood and accepted his decision. Probably deep inside her heart she knew that although Nanjiroh honestly loved her, it wasn't she, but tennis that was his number one. They parted in a peaceful atmosphere and she has never hold a grudge against him. Even now they occasionally exchange letters.

Unfortunately the same couldn't be said about her brother. Kazuhiro behaved as it was him who was dumped. He took it too personally and stopped talking to Nanjiroh completely. In one moment he cut all the ties. Nanjiroh heard from Misako that he finally overtook his father's company and few years later his son Keigo was born.

Echizen senior shook his head and came back to the contemplation of the phone call.

"_It doesn't change the fact that you have chosen tennis and left her behind. I won't let the situation to repeat."_

"_Misako didn't say anything, so I assume that she is ok with Anabel and Ryoma being together and that's not your business Kazuhiro."_

"_If that would be the case, maybe it wouldn't be my business, but it's not my niece we are talking about!"_

"_So? Will you finally tell me who are you talking about or should I guess?"_

"_It's Keigo."_

"_What about him?"_

"_I'm talking about my son."_

"_I've heard, but what he has to do with Ryoma?"_

"_Are you that blunt Nanjiroh or after so many years in America you forgot Japanese? I'm telling you that those two are in a relationship."_

"…"

"_I see you've finally understood. Good. I want you to tell your son to stay away from Keigo. I do not wish him to waste my son's life. He is an heir to Atobe International and has a great future ahead of him. I won't allow anybody to destroy it."_

"_Wait a second Kazuhiro. If their feelings are mutual I won't let you interfere. Your son is already eighteen and can make decisions on his own. If they choose to be together I'm going to support them."_

"_What are you talking about? They are both men and I won't allow-"_

"_Nanjiroh are you there? Nanjiroh you…" _

_Beep. Beep._

Nanjiroh put his hands into his sleeves, crossing his arms at his chest, and then took one more glance at Ryoma and Keigo. It was a big shock for him to hear that they are together. Now he could really say goodbye to all his dreams about a cute girl being his son's girlfriend. But it was Ryoma's choice and he had no right to impair it.

"How long are we going to wait?" Gakuto asked his former doubles partner. Rikkai Dai were the first ones to arrive and they were waiting already over an hour. After all patience wasn't the strongest point of young people.

"I have no idea Gakuto, but to be honest I would like to know who would be our trainer," Oshitari replied.

"Basing on the experience from three years ago it should be not one trainer, but a group consisting of some of our coaches," Inui stated, adjusting his glasses. Probably if not for them, he wouldn't have what to do with his hands.

"Unfortunately I have to disagree with you Doc," Yanagi interjected into the conversation, "You've forgotten to add one factor."

"It's your mistake Professor not to let me finish. There is zero percent chance that I would forget to put it into my calculations. It changes the whole formula. The population grows bigger and thus the normal distribution moves to the right by 3.2." *

"I'm sorry for underestimating you Sadaharu. If that's the case I assume that you took into the consideration that the mean is also displaced for about 1.6, " Yanagi stated as it would be the most obvious thing in the world.

"Of course. I didn't forget about cumulative distribution function either, although counting the indefinite integral with a given function took me some time."

Few players were listening to the conversation of the two data masters, with each word wondering more and more if they were still talking in Japanese. Sometimes, it was hard to understand them when they were separately, but when they happen to meet each other and exchange their approaches nobody was able to follow them.

"Ekhm, Inui-senpai," Momoshiro disrupted their conversation, "Does that mean that you know who will be our new coach?"

"Unfortunately Momo, it means that we have no idea."

"I think that we will get to know soon," Sengoku pointed the building in front of them. The huge, glass door opened and a man looking like a monk, wearing black robe went out from inside.

"I think it's an answer for your question Momoshiro," Tachibana said pointing the man approaching them. He was whistling and hoping and definitely didn't look like a person suitable for teaching.

"Don't tell me that this comically looking monk is going to be our trainer. Does he even know how to hold a racket?" Akaya started to laugh, but nobody followed him. Instead he met with a disapproval and sympathy. Even Yanagi hid his face behind his hand and shook his head.

"Kirihara don't you have a television in Kanagawa?" Oshitari asked, still being amazed that there was someone so uniformed.

"Hey! Don't boil us down to the same level Yuushi," the red-head scolded the tensai.

"Oi, what that means Gakuto-senpai?" Rikkai Dai sophomore ace demanded to know. Somehow he felt that everybody knew something and that he has just been called dumb.

"That means if you would keep track of the world's top tennis you would now that this is Echizen Nanjiroh, and that he is Echizen's and Kevin's trainer," Gakuto enlighten his kouhai.

"What?" Akaya couldn't believe that the famous pro tennis player called Samurai Nanjiroh resembled some crazy monk. He looked around and noticed that all the players stopped talking and turned to the newcomer.

"Yeah, what should I tell you," Nanjiroh took his hand out of his sleeve and scratched his head from behind, "I see that there are quite a lot of you so I will speak in Japanese. Ryoma translate it for me, ok?"

"Wheez"

"Hmm," Echizen senior sighed, "I will be your coach for the time being. You can call me Nanjiroh." He wanted to finish here his speech, but the teens were still gaping at him. _Jeez, what more they want to know?_

"At the end of the camp I will choose the best eight and you will play against the Team USA," he pointed the boys in black shorts and dark-blue jerseys. "In the first week," he continued, "we will improve your stamina a little. Today we will have a light training. We don't want to scare you, right?" he turned his head to Ryoma and Kevin. "Nevertheless, tonight you are welcomed to take, as long as you want, bath in an onsen. They are reserved exclusively for you," he finished letting the boys to enjoy the news and smirked to his son and the blond teen standing next to him. They already knew that it wasn't the reason to joy.

"Yay!" Kikumaru started to bounce, "Did you hear that Oishi? We are going to onsen."

"I've heard it Eiji. We haven't been to one since middle school," Oishi smiled. It was very promising evening.

"Why aren't you happy Mamushi?" Momoshiro asked his roommate, "Are you scared of water?"

"Shut up you peach-head. Not everybody has to be so overjoyed," Kaidoh retorted, but cursed this idea in his mind. He already had a huge problem living with Momoshiro in one room and seeing him parading half naked almost every day.

First Kaidoh tried to deal with his problem on his own, increasing the amount of training which resulted in spending more time outside, but when it didn't work he decided to seek for some help from the person he trusted the most. At the beginning he was really embarrassed, but now his private chats with Inui were on the agenda.

"Sugoi!" Kintarou exclaimed when he heard about the hot springs. He almost forgot about the match with Koshimae.

"Echizen's father is great, isn't he?" Sengoku rather stated than asked, but still received a confirming nod from Tachibana.

Two hours later Nanjiroh looked at the big clock hanging on the wall. It was almost noon and a high time for the light lunch. He called it a day and observed like the never ending river of colorful jerseys was leaving a gym. The boys were tired, but not exhausted. Looking at them during their training Nanjiroh initially assessed their forms, but the real test of their stamina was still waiting ahead for them in the afternoon.

When Nanjiroh finished his grilled fish with rice and fried vegetables, he stood up from his seat and announced, "Ok, don't' get lost and see you at the onsen", then left, leaving the players in the huge dining room.

"That's all for today?" Ootori asked. For the past two years he got used to Rikkai Dai Spartan trainings and was a little disappointed.

"Don't complain Choutarou. We will have more time at the hot springs."

"Awsome! Your father is awesome Ochibi!" The read head bounced to hug Echizen from behind.

"What are you so happy about?" Kevin asked finishing his lunch.

"Huh?" Eiji made a surprised face, "Nanjiroh-sensei just said that we are done for today and can go to an onsen."

"But did he tell you Kikumaru-senpai how are we going to get there?" Echizen asked chewing the last bite of his meat.

"It's almost 30 miles, so the only logical answer is by bus," Inui answered examining the map hanging on the wall. The road was running next to the river almost all the way, so they could marvel the landscape through the bus window.

Kevin stood up from his seat and stretched. He was still sleepy. He knew that the yesterday's night match would recoil on his present form. "Wrong."

All the players were now starring at him waiting for further explanation. The only remaining option was a train, but the closest rail station was almost two miles away.

Ryoma put his hands into his pockets and followed Kevin, "We are going to run it."

* * *

* This and the next concepts come from statistics. If you want to learn more, google it or check it on the Wikipedia.

**A/N**:I hope you enjoyed it. Unfortunately I have no idea when I will be able to post the next chapter, first because of my busy schedule and second coz I didn't plan this camp, so, so far I have no concept for the further plot. Remember to drop me a review. I'm open to your ideas and wishes.

Do you have so much problems with editing your chapters after uploads (I mean I cannot save additional space-bars or Enters) or is that only me?

~mem~


	14. Marathon

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**Warning #2: **This chapter is not beta-ed yet. It will be replaced later on.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R: **denizen of the night, wuzimiko, EchizenRyomaLover, Pri-Chan 1410, HiKaRi-ChIbI, Rika-chi, ShioLee, ILOVEGAARA, erisreigned, lajascot, TQWEE, MoonJewel, tsub4ki, Eos-hime, Jinju17, Koshimae Ryo, fallenangel9413

**A/N**:Finally here comes the next chapter. Some of the American players appear, so please come back to their presentation if you don't remember them. I planned on writing much more in this chapter, but it already is over 5k words so I postponed it for the next one. I think I will have to speed up a time line a little since the last couple of chapters covered only two days. Unfortunately the camp is to blame here. Since I brought so many players altogether I have to make some use of them. Still I hope you will enjoy it.

**ENJOY !**

* * *

**Chapter 1****4: Marathon. **

_-----_

_**Previously on chapter 1**__**3:**_

"_It's almost 30 miles, so the only logical answer is by bus," Inui answered examining the map hanging on the wall. The road was running next to the river almost all the way, so they could marvel the landscape through the bus window._

_Kevin stood up from his seat and stretched. He was still sleepy. He knew that the yesterday's night match would recoil on his present form. "Wrong."_

_All the players were now starring at him waiting for further explanation. The only remaining option was a train, but the closest rail station was almost two miles away._

_Ryoma put his hands into his pockets and followed Kevin, "We are going to run it."_

_-----_

"Huh?" Momoshiro blinked his mouth wide open. For a moment the whole cafeteria became silent. One could almost hear the thoughts that were crossing the minds of all the players trying to comprehend what Echizen has just said. In the end most of them came to the same conclusion _Run… 30 miles… Impossible. _

The silence was abruptly broken up by the fierce laugh. All the eyes turned towards the source of the sound. Kirihara was laughing so hard that he almost fell of the chair he was sitting on.

"Oi Akaya what so funny about it?" Gakuto scolded his kouhai. _Poor Bakaya he must have lost his mind completely. _

"I'm laughing from the lame joke Echizen has just pulled," he huffed trying to catch at least one breath.

"Do I look like joking?" Ryoma asked coming to the window behind his seat. He took a look outside. The sun was still high, but the time was definitely working against them. They will have to take at least one hour break before start running if they don't want to throw up whole lunch from exhaustion.

"Are you insane? We have to run 30 miles? It's… it's…" Kirihara hurriedly calculated something in his mind, "It's almost the distance of a marathon!" he exclaimed after a while.

"Shut up already Kirihara," Sanada silenced his team member in a blink of a second. He was tired, his head was hurting and he hadn't his painkillers. And what was Akaya doing? First he didn't know who Echizen Nanjiroh was and now this. _Dear God. He is probably a natural idiot. _If he let this embarrassment keep going everybody would think that Rikkai Dai players have no brains.

"Actually its more than marathon," Renji corrected his kouhai, enlightening him a little.

"The distance of a marathon is 42.195 kilometers, so it means its 26 miles and 385 yards to be exact," Inui added. His words seemed to make all the players aware of what kind of distance they were taking about. It wasn't something they could take lightly anymore. None of them has ever run such a long distance. Even Kaidoh was usually finishing at the 15th mile maximum.

"30 miles huh? Your father sure is a tough trainer. The camp is becoming more and more interesting, isn't it?" Fuji smiled and the only who responded to him was actually Yukimura. None of the players was expecting the camp to be a piece of cake, but wasn't it too much for a beginning? It was they first day after all.

"I withdraw what I've said about your father Ochibi," Kikumaru stated when he has realized that the next good few hours he will have to spend running.

"I agree with the read head," Gakuto united in pain with Kikumaru, "Your father lied to us. He said that we will have a light training today!"

"I back him too," Kamio added. He was about to say something more when they heard the next burst of laugh. This time it was Kevin. He laughed out so much that the tears started to flow down his cheeks.

"Oi Ryoma your senpai-tachi are really great. I would like Jiroh-Oji to hear it. Maybe we shouldn't enlighten them?" The blond asked whipping of his tears, making his jersey's sleeve completely wet.

"You have started already to talk so you can finish as well," Atobe crossed his arms on his chest. He still refused to look at Ryoma, that means, at least in a way he would be caught doing it. Last night he didn't get much sleep and because he was constantly spacing out he didn't do much work either.

"Actually my Oyaji was telling the truth. Today is just a warm-up before tomorrow," Echizen stated not affected by the faces his seniors made when they heard him. Since Nanjiroh was his and Kevin's coach for the past few years they were already used to his harsh methods. After all they were running this distance once every ten days, so it wasn't making an impression on them anymore, but the same couldn't be said on the rest of the tennis players that were occupying the cafeteria. Sure they were young, sure they were athletic, but probably none of them were prepared for this. There was only one word that could describe the expressions on their faces – stunned.

"I guess we shouldn't waste any minute and start to prepare for the run," Shiraishi said standing from his seat breaking the silence, "Chitose shall we run together?"

"I don't wanna run! I wanna play a match with Koshimae!" Kintaro exclaimed, pulling the racket out from the sack he was carrying all the time on his back and sending the ball straight towards Echizen, who dodged it with the slightest movement letting the ball to break the window behind him.

"Kin-chan! What did I said about playing inside? Do you want me to take of the bandages-" Shirashi didn't even have to finish his sentence, because the youngest member of Shitenhoji was already almost begging for forgiveness.

Echizen turned towards his teammates and ordered, **"Ok I'm running with Kevin, Rick you take care of the twins, so they won't get lost and the rest may do whatever you want, but make sure you always have at least one person with you." **He definitely didn't want to replay the same situation that happened a year ago when his father was in charge of camp for the candidates to the Team USA. Some of them may simple be unable to finish the run.

"**I still don't know why it must be me. I didn't volunteer to be a chaperone for two damn brats,"** the tall brown complained, although he knew that it wouldn'tt change anything.

"**Oi Rick!"**

"**Who are you calling brats,"** Matt and Alex exclaimed almost simultaneously making Tezuka to shudder a little in his seat. Alike Sanada, he also was suffering from the lack of his pills and the noise that the twins were making, caused him to want to order them as many laps as possible. Unfortunately he wasn't their captain, so he looked at Echizen waiting for him to react, but Echizen being Echizen instead of bringing them to order provoked them even further.

"**Sorry Rick, but you was born to be a babysitter," **Ryoma smirked and Kevin instantly seized upon, **"It's your destiny man."**

"**Oi Ryoma, we are older that you!" **Matt jumped of his chair followed by his brother.

"**And we don't need a nanny!"**

"**Oh really?" **Echizen smirked even wider, **"Should I remind you then what happened last year?"**

The twins wanted to strike back, but couldn't find any good retort. It's not their fault that they got lost, right?

_A threat? Nice move boya. Seems that you have lear__nt something from Fuji too._ Yukimura smiled to himself. He was always in favor of a peaceful solving any problems and disagreements and thought that a good "argument" is way better than even the greatest number of laps.

"**You can start as soon as you will be ready. We will catch up with you later on," **the USA captain nodded at Kevin and left the cafeteria. He didn't get much sleep that night either and it was a perfect time for a _siesta_. It was probably the best thing that the Spanish came up with. _Afternoon nap should become a tradition in all the countries._

Ryoma found a tree not so far from the main gate, sat on the ground, leaned against the trunk, pulled his cap lower and closed his eyes shortly plunging into sleep.

While he was peacefully resting outside the rest of the players were slowly organizing themselves into groups.

"Be ready in twenty minutes," the first one to gather all his regulars was Kite. After graduating from Higa Middle School he continued his adventure with tennis in Higa High and as a captain, together with his teammates, won the championship of Okinawa for the third time in a row and made it to the National's best eight. The climate in Okinawa and the fact that they were training martial arts was significantly raising their chances to survive the camp.

"I think that we should get going too," Oishi stood up and looked around. The groups were already forming. He turned around and wanted to inform Tezuka that they should start preparations, when he felt a desperate squeeze on his forearm. He smiled slightly and looked down onto Eiji who was clinging to him tightly. He loved those moments when his doubles partner needed him so much and he could be there for him. He squeezed his hand back, reassuring him that he won't leave him somewhere in the middle of the way. It's true that Kikumaru was training hard on a runway with a low oxygen level, but still it will be a huge challenge for him to run 30 miles.

Tezuka consulted shortly with Yukimura and other captains and decided that all the players can run with whoever they want, but nobody is allowed to run alone. On this camp all of them were rivals and all of them were even, but all the players were still respecting their captains and none of them even tried to dispute their orders.

xxx

"Hmm, are all the people in Japan this interesting?" David asked Oshitari in Japanese. They just stopped in front of some store for a short break after an hour of run. They barely reached one fifth of the distance, what means that at least for more hours are still ahead of them.

"I have no idea what are you talking about," the Tawamure's tensai replied putting his glasses back on his nose. He just finished whipping them off.

"Is it a new fashion to wear fake glasses?" Rick was continuing the topic. Just a moment ago he saw that Oshitari took them off then read the opening hours of the shop from 15 feet and at the end checked the time on his watch. It definitely wasn't something that a person with a vision impairment could do.

"I see that you are quite perceptive," the black hair teen stated taking the last sip of water from the bottle he bought a moment ago.

"You would be surprised to know how many other things I notice," the American teen extended his hand, "I'm Rick."

"Oshitari Yushi," the tesai shook the other's boy hand.

"So will you tell me Yushi why do you wear those fake glasses?" Rick asked when they started to slowly running back.

In the first moment Oshitari felt a little uneasy upon hearing his first name, but knowing that for a foreigner it must be hard to pronounce his last name and that's calling each other by their given names isn't anything unusual in other countries he decided to let it go. "I will tell you, if you tell me how you did learn Japanese."

"Deal," Rick agreed and the two of them started to recede from the group of tennis players who were still standing in front of the shop, drinking water greedily. Despite it being October the weather was still very good and sunny what combined with the temperature over 70 F degrees made them to sweat a lot.

xxx

"Oi Fuji-senpai, what are you doing?!" Momoshiro exclaimed in the last moment preventing the tensai from crushing the plastic bottle of water he was holding in his hand.

"Ah, sorry Momo," Fuji closed his sky-blue eyes and put a smile back into his face. For a while now he was observing the scene outside the shop through the window. First he felt some weird squeeze in his stomach that soon moved up into his throat, then came shivering, inexplicable frustration and anger that made him to tighten his grip on the bottle.

Standing in a line to the checkout Fuji managed to calm down a little, but no matter how hard he tried he could named the feeling he was experiencing a while ago. It wasn't pleasant and he definitely didn't want to repeat it.

xxx

"Inui-senpai why are you actually running with us?" Kaidoh asked when they left Saitama Sport Center.

"I hope to gather some valuable data about the players. Besides didn't you want to talk to me?" Inui asked looking down at his kouhai. Those moments when they could talk alone were very precious to him, but very painful at the same time.

The bandana wearing teen lowered his eyes. Inui was always the closest team member to him, his mentor and the one who was always there for him. Kaidoh tried to recall when he started relying on him some much. It must have started somewhere at the beginning of High School when Fuji put him and Momoshiro in one room, and later when the latter started to going out with Tachibana An. Kaidoh couldn't take it any more. Somewhere in the middle of their rivalry their mutual aversion turned into specific friendship and later on evolved into something more. That is only on Kaidoh's part. It took him quite a lot of time to realize it and then to admit it, but when they ended up in the same room this feeling became almost unbearable.

"What should I do Inui-senpai? He is with Tachibana-san little sister and never thought about me that way."

"I told you already Kaidoh that you should try to talk to him and get along with him better for the beginning," the ache in Inui's heart gained on intensity. Why did he have to give Kaidoh such an advice? Kaidoh should just forget about Momo already, but when he looked into his kouhai's eyes he couldn't help it. He really wished him all the best. Just not with Momo.

"I can't Inui-senpai. Each time I see him I'm becoming so angry that cannot do anything, but to fight with him. I guess there is no hope for me, since even such a smart person like you senpai, can't help me. I'm sorry for imposing on you. I will be going then," Kaidoh bowed and speeded up, leaving Inui behind. The latter stopped, took of his glasses and sighed trying to calm down. He blinked energetically couple of time trying to prevent the tears that were already gathering under his eyelid from falling down, when he felt someone's hand on his shoulder.

"You should listen to your own advices Doc," Yanagi stated still standing behind Inui, "Aren't you in the similar situation?"

"I can't Professor," Inui replied putting his glasses back, "There is one hundred percent chance that I will be rejected and that our friendship will change forever." No matter how painful it was he didn't want to loose everything.

"You know that I'm the one who taught you the data tennis, but wasn't it Echizen who said that that the data cannot be applied to people with a full certainty? And didn't he prove it a few times already? You have two weeks ahead of you to change his approach towards you. See you later Doc," Yanagi bid farewell and soon he too disappeared from Inui's eyeshot.

The Data Master approached the barrier and looked down on the river feeling the fresh breeze on his face. He was the one that said earlier that they would be able to marvel the landscape, but the view wasn't as nice as he expected. _It seems that it works only when you can share it with someone._

xxx

"Oi Ryoma, how long do you plan on sleeping?" Kevin nudged the young tennis star still napping under the three. Everybody has long ago started to run. It's true that they will still probably reach the destination first, but it was almost two o'clock already and the blond couldn't stop thinking about the hot springs that were waiting for them at the finishing line.

"Ok, ok I get up. Just stop poking me already," Echizen mumbled sleepily raising into the sitting position. He stretched his body and yawed letting the air to wake him up. _It was such a good nap. Too bad that it's over already._

Ryoma stood up from the ground, brushed off his jersey and extended his hand to Kevin who took two Grip Emphasis Devices from on of his pockets and gave them to Echizen, then pulled out two more from the other pocket and placed them comfortably in his own hands. They started to jog slowly letting their bodies to accustom, both to the long run and to repeating move of squeezing the devices in their hands. His father may seem like a monk that had no idea about training, but the reality was different. He specially arranged those hot springs to let their muscles to relax after the extreme strain and prevent them from being sore the next day.

"Are you going to explain me what was it yesterday? And why were you so angry?" Kevin asked when half an hour later they were outrunning first tennis players.

"No," Ryoma has no intention of talking about it. At least, not now.

"Whatever. Stubbornness is your family feature," the blond stated resigned. They have already covered quarter of a distance so still three as much was waiting for them. "I hope that at least the surprise I told you about when I came to your school yesterday will make you feel better."

"…"

"Oi Ryoma! Aren't you curious what I'm talking about?" Kevin definitely was expecting some reaction. Knowing Ryoma it wouldn't be jumping in the air demanding to know all the details, but he was awaiting at least the slightest sign of interest.

"Did anybody tell you already that you are really antisocial?"

"Huh? Did you say something?" Echizen shook out from his thoughts.

"No, just forget about it," the blond said resigned. He knew this brat long enough to know that he does not care for most of the things around him.

"Aren't those Matt and Alex?" Kevin pointed the twins ahead of them. They were fiercely arguing with the other twins.

"**We are more similar than you are,"** Matt exclaimed into the face of the dark pink hair Josei Shonan High player.

"**You wish,"** the blue hair Kouhei replied. His brother crossed his arms on his chest and added, **"If we only dye our hair on the same color we would more indistinguishable that you would ever be!"**

"**What did you said shorty?"** Alex approached Youhei and now they were angrily piercing each other with their eyes.

"**Look who is talking!"** Kouhei pointed the American twins with his index finger. They were about the same height.

"**Ri****ck can you explain me what are you doing?" **Echizen asked the brown-hair teen who was leaning on the pole and didn't pay attention to what was going on around him. He was listening to his favorite music and drinking water from the nearby vending machine.

"**I have no idea what you are taking about,"** Rick replied taking off his headphones, **"They are just making new friends," **he pointed out the twins that almost started a fist fight by now.

"**Che, do what you want. Just bring them to the hot springs," **Echizen stated and started run again, but turned his head one more time and added, **"Today."**

xxx

"O..O..Oishi…I think I can't run any… more," Kikumaru gasped catching his breath with difficulty. Right next to him Kamio tried to pull himself together and stand up from the ground. The 22nd mile became a crucial moment for most of the players. Somewhere around tenth mile they started to fell tired, around half of the distance they were becoming exhausted and now their feet were slowly failing them. If they sit too long they won't be able to resume the run.

"Hang in there Eiji. It's only couple of miles more. I'm tired too, but I'm not going to give up and I won't let you either," Oishi stated handing his partner a bottle with an isotonic drink. He knew exactly the limits of Kikumaru's stamina and if he let him rest any longer the red head won't be able to continue.

A dozen or so feet away Tezuka and Sanada were taking their break too, wiping of the sweat. All of them were deadbeat. Only Kintaro was almost as lively as ever trying to persuade Chitose to have a race with him. Shiraishi looked up onto the sky. It was already late afternoon and five hours passed since the left the Saitama Sport Center. With each mile their pace was dropping and still almost one third of the distance was ahead of them. The threat that not all off them would be able to finish the run was more and more probable.

"Isn't it Kochimae?!" the read head from Shitenhoji High asked, pointing to figures coming from the horizon on other side of the street. Kikumaru raised his head, "Ochibi?"

"Where from is he taking this whole energy?" Kirihara asked pouring the water onto his head to cool himself a little.

"Koshimae," Kin-chan screamed once again crossing the street and barely avoiding the car.

"Ryoma aren't those your senpai-tachi?" Kevin asked pointing a group of teens. Some of them were sitting on the ground, some were stretching their muscles and some were trying to help others, but all of them were red and gasping.

"So it means that we are about the 20th mile already. I'm not going to go out of the water till morning when we get to the place." When Kevin averted his eyes from Ryoma he crashed into something hard and almost bumped on the ground. In the last second he managed to regain his balance. When he stopped massaging his head he looked at the obstacle. A red head boy, about their height wearing leopard designed t-shirt was standing in front of them, the smile covering half of his face.

"Can I run with you Koshimae?" he made a puppy like eyes.

"Yadda. What with your senpai-tachi?" Echizen asked handing Kevin the Grip Emphasis Device the latter dropped after the head-on collision with Kintaro.

The red head darkened, crossed his arms and shook his head, "They are no good."

"Let him Ryoma run. We can't stand here any longer or we will loose our pace."

"Che, whatever." And all three of them soon disappeared from the sight of all other players.

"Are they monsters or something?" Ibu started to mumble under his breath, "Are we tennis players or some track and field members? I still don't understand how running so much will improve my play. I would rather have some exercises with a racket and the ball, but now I'm too tired to even think about it. All I can imagine now are the hot springs. It will be nice to immerse into hot water…"

xxx

Atobe pulled out his cell phone out of the pocket in his jersey. He has never parted with it. It wasn't one of his whims. Running a big company he simply had to be at the phone 24/7.

The diva dialed the number to his mansion in Tokyo. He didn't have to wait even two signals before the butler answered,

"Atobes' residence. Takuma speaking. How can I help you?"

"It's Ore-sama."

"Young master it's so unusual for you to call. Shall I prepare a limousine?"

"No, Ore-sama want you to deliver Ore-sama's laptop to the Onsen north of Tokyo. Ore-sama expect it to be done within two hours."

"Of course. Is there anything else I can do for you young master?"

"Bring Ore-sama the also the bottle with pills that is in Ore-sama's desk."

"As you wish."

Takuma put down the phone and sighed. _Pills, huh?_ He knew exactly what their effect was. Keigo got them from their family doctor to use in case of emergency. Already one pill could prevent you from sleeping for a whole night. Keigo started to use them when he got to high school, but lately he definitely was overusing them and unfortunately it was double-edge sword. They let him stay awake for the whole night, or sometimes even for two or three in a row, but his body was gradually weakening. Lack of sleep was causing his head to hurt so he was drowning it out taking some painkillers and the circle was closing. Eventually however his organism was claiming for a rest so he was sleeping for a whole day and night.

xxx

"Ryoma, Kevin, you are finally here. What were you doing on your way? Sightseeing?" Nanjiroh asked when they finally reached their destination.

"Princess took an afternoon nap so we set off pretty late," the blond explained taking of his wet t-shirt and putting his head under the outside tap, letting the water to flow freely down his face and neck.

"Oh, I see that you've brought someone with you," Nanjiroh smiled looking at Kintaro. With his stamina level she should be considered as a candidate for Team Japan.

The three high school freshmen were first to try the salutary effect of the hot water after the long physical effort. Gradually the hot springs were filling in with young tennis players. They were so happy that this murderous marathon was already over that nobody even started a fight. Neither Momo with Kaido, Kikumaru with Gatuto nor the twins. Nobody.

xxx

Late in the evening Nanjiroh gathered all the players in a huge room downstairs in the inn they were staying at. The floor was covered with tatami mats, stack of futons laying in the corner. It wasn't even a curfew for grade school children, yet almost all the players looked like they were about to fall asleep there and then.

"I'm glad that all of you made it to the end. As for this camp's rules…you are still young, so being reckless, irresponsible and stupid are your rights, but if you want to do something you shouldn't do, just don't get caught," Nanjiroh scratched the back of his head and left leaving surprised players alone.

He has no intention of babysitting full grown young men. Ryoma was twelve when for the first time he flew alone to the New York to take part in US Open so they will be fine too. Besides from the short observation Nanjiroh could already tell that this Tezuka kid and his capped friend from the other school will have the situation well in hands.

"Echizen your father sure is liberal," Yukimura stated unfolding his futon next to Sanada.

"Libe… what Yuki-buchou?" Kirihara asked lying down.

"Liberal. Liberal. Did you skip a few grades or what?" Shishido growled at his kouhai.

"Don't be harsh Ryo," Ohtori tried to pacify his boyfriend. Finally after all those years they started going out and were the first gay pair among the high school tennis players. That is at least officially.

"To put it simply it means that Nanjiroh sensei believes in equality and freedom," Renji explained and concluding form lots of quiet 'ochs' and 'achs' not only Kirihara ha\d some gaps in his education.

"Where are you going Atobe?" Oshitari asked when the diva stood up from the tatami and approached the sliding door made of many square rice papers.

"Did you honestly think that Ore-sama would sleep on the floor, ahn? Ore-sama asked to prepare a room for him upstairs," Keigo said and left the room.

"Sheesh, his royal butt won't life through one night in futon," Gakuto commented enhancing the pillow under his head.

"That's our diva," Fuji added. This creepy feeling he experienced in the shop earlier that day faded a little away, but he still could feel some weird sting in his chest.

xxx

Atobe opened the door to his room and looked around. There was almost nothing beside a bed and the desk next to the window. On the little table in the corner was laying his laptop and the bottle with his magic yellow pills. He took one of them, turned on his laptop and sat at the desk. He looked at the screen, tons of e-mails to read and reply, problems to solve and decision to take. There was a long night ahead of him and the long, exhausting day tomorrow. If not those pills he wouldn't be able to function normally. Keigo poured himself a cup of coffee and went about to work.

xxx

Around two am in the morning Nanjiroh finally went out of the water. He decided to take a bath in the evening, but ended up sleeping in a hot water. He was about to go inside when spotted a light in one of the rooms upstairs and a figure sitting in front of a computer. Since the whole inn was reserved exclusively for them it must have been one of the boys. Before going upstairs, Nanjiroh took a look into the big room where the camp participants were sleeping. He gave them a free hand to do whatever they want, but after today little 'warm-up' probably all they wanted was to go to bed.

He closed the door and went upstairs. He had already a pretty good guess about who might be there. There was only one workaholic so alike to his father. Echizen peered through the ajar door. _Just like Kazuhiro._

He pitied the boy, but still chuckled at the memory of his and Ryoma's behavior in the hot spring today. Both of them were observing each other from concealment, pretending that they don't care at all. _Mada, mada dane._

* * *

**A/N**:Hope you like the chapter. I think that Akaya is just a perfect material to make fun of, so I will continue with it in the near future =) Don't worry I plan on some more interaction between Keigo and Ryoma in the next chapter (in the worst scenario in chapter 16) and in Ch15 the next two characters will appear. One from anime and one OC, but I guarantee you would love it.

Ok please review and give me a piece of your mind =p

~mem~


	15. Make up

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**Warning #2: **This chapter is not beta-ed yet. It will be replaced later on.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R****: **denizen of the night**, **Pri-Chan 1410**, **Sanz0girl**, **lajascot**, **HiKaRi-ChIbI**, **TQWEE**, **tsub4ki**, **sukoi-sugoi**, **EchizenRyomaLover**, **Rika-chi**, **loveless0097**, **xxSnowxxAngelxx**, **astier**, **ShioLee**, **Kiriyuu69**, **Koshimae Ryo**, **xxMist

**A/N**:Guess what? Yesterday Easter Bunny came to me and threatened me that there would be no Easter if I don't publish the next chapter. I didn't want to be responsible for it, so I've decided write one – looong one in addition. Lots of things are happening, but after reading a title I bet you can predict some =)

**ENJOY !**

* * *

**Chapter 1****5: Make up! **

_-----_

_**Previously on chapter 14:**_

_He closed the door and went upstairs. He had already a pretty good guess about who might be there. There was only one workaholic so alike to his father. Echizen peered through the ajar door. Just like Kazuhiro. _

_He pitied the boy, but still chuckled at the memory of his and Ryoma's behavior in the hot spring today. Both of them were observing each other from concealment, pretending that they don't care at all. Mada, mada dane._

_-----_

Nanjiroh woke up a while ago and after grabbing some necessary equipment from the kitchen he was walking towards the huge room located on the ground floor of the inn, where unaware of what was coming to them, tennis players were sleeping. Nanjiroh looked through out the window. The sun rose already, but still was barely above the horizon, slowly waking up everything within a reach of its beams. After all it was hardly six in the morning.

Echizen senior drawn the rice-paper made doors aside and looked around at the sleeping teenagers. Not even trying to suppress the urge to take some priceless photos he pulled the camera out of his left sleeve and pressed the button. Few seconds and tons of embarrassing pictures later, satisfied with the gathered material he put his camera away and started to do what he came here for.

"Wake up seishounen!" he shouted hitting intensively a pan he was holding in his left hand with a metal ladle. "Are you going to sleep until noon?"

It wasn't a recreation vacation, but a sports camp, so there was no chance that Nanjiroh would let them sleep any longer.

The number of reactions to this harsh wake-up call matched almost the number of the occupants of the unlucky room.

Kamio jumped in shock, but because the futons they were sleeping in were arranged really tight, he landed on Tachibana's hand. The latter with visible difficulty released his arm from beneath the red head, but the force he used to do this made him roll back and top Sengoku, who really liked his captain, just not this way.

At the sudden sound of metal hitting metal Momoshiro started to flourish his hands around what ended up in accidental slap on Kaidoh's face. As much as Viper was attracted to the spiky-head he couldn't take this insult and soon both of the Tawamure's sophomores were involved in a fist fight.

Their brawl ended up as quickly as it started, when one of the punches reached Sanada. Rikkai Dai vice-captain almost exploded. If not for Yukimura he would crash them and wipe them off from the Earth. Adding the fact that Tezuka sleeping next to Sanada was also suffering from the lack of his painkillers, both Momo and Kaidoh were now in a deep shit and became as meek as lambs.

Kirihara was mumbling something completely incomprehensible about being woken up in the middle of the night, but stooped immediately after witnessing the scene taking place right in front of him.

Matt drew his face to his brother's, so close that their lips were inches apart. He caressed Alex's cheek with the back of his hand and whispered, **"Did you have a good sleep? Didn't we overdo it at night?"**

Alex flushed a little and took the other twin's hand into his own brushing it gently.

"**Don't worry about it brother. I'm alright," **he smiled and bent forward, his lips almost touched Matt's.

That was the limit of Kirihara's durability. He jumped onto his feet and dashed out the room tightly covering his nose.

He wasn't the only one who reacted this way, but the remainder managed to stop the bleeding somehow. The twins smirked.

Nanjiroh was looking at the whole situation with an undisguised amusement. By now all the players were already awake. All, beside one.

"Kevin," Nanjiroh said to the blond, "Just wake up Ryoma already."

The blond sighed and reached his best friend. He knew that taking him out of the bed this early in the morning was no mean task. When Ryoma was sleeping he was pretty oblivious to everything around him. Neither light nor a noise could persuade him to crawl from under his comforter.

"How it's even possible that he can still sleep despite this all ruckus?" Oshitari shook his head in disbelief. _Echizen is truly amazing. _

"He is always this way," David replied, "I was with him on two camps before and it's always the same. After a few days you will stop wondering." The Team USA strategist smiled and put on his glasses, feeling the shivers going down his back. He shuddered. David didn't even have to turn around to confirm who the source of this creepy feeling was. After yesterday he could bet that it was Tawamure's tensai glaring daggers at him.

Fuji was seethe with rage, his sky-blue eyes wide open. His gaze could freeze immediately anyone to the spot, but unfortunately the person he was aiming at was obviously immune. Fuji involuntarily clenched his fists, when once again he felt a weird, painful pressure in his chest.

"Are you all right Fujiko?" Eiji asked worriedly, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. Something was wrong with the tensai. He was gloomy since yesterday and refused to talk about it, what regarding to the cold aura around him that was keeping everyone at the safe distance, was easy to obtain.

"Yes," Fuji nodded and a well-known smile popped up his face, "I'm ok, so don't worry Eiji.'

Nanjiroh announced assembly in ten minutes then approached his son, who barely opened his eyes still trying to engulf commotion around him. He spotted Inui and Kaidoh still desperately trying to stop their nose-bleeds and a few red drops on the floor – the proof that somebody couldn't resist.

"They did it again, didn't they?" Ryoma asked Kevin pointing the twins, who were smirking, extremely proud from their prank.

"Yeah," the blond smiled and remembered his own reaction when he saw Alex and Matt's show for the first time. They definitely improved since then, making most of their audience to fall for their little joke.

"Ryoma," Nanjiroh barged into the conversation, "Go and wake up the Sleeping Beauty upstairs."

The young tennis star glared at the blond next to him. Either Kevin told his father about him and Keigo, or the old man somehow figured it out himself. It wouldn't bother him though, if only his father would stay away from his private life, especially from his love affairs. But again, it's perverted Echizen Nanjiroh we are talking about, so the chances that he won't interfere were as slight as Ryoma's chances to sleep at least until noon.

Ryoma knocked on the door, but when he didn't receive any reply he decided to just come inside.

Keigo was lying on the bed still fully dressed. Ryoma spotted a laptop, still turned on, on the desk and felt growing anger. _That idiot probably worked late up night and then just barely managed to the bed before almost passing out from fatigue._

Echizen approached the sleeping figure with a strong resolution to make the diva as harsh wake-up call as the one Nanjiroh served them few minutes ago, but his strong will was weakening with each step he took forward.

Keigo was lying on the bed on his left side shaking from cold, cuddling to the pillow, looking for some heat. His gray hair was in total mess, falling freely onto his face, bags under his eyes clearly suggesting that the he didn't have enough sleep lately.

Ryoma squatted down next to Atobe and observed him for a while. He didn't like the atmosphere between them, but he also didn't have any intention to retreat. His boyfriend was stubborn, so was he. Echizen stretched his hand and gently brushed Keigo's hair aside his face. This apparently tickled the other boy, because he flinched slightly, his expression softened.

The golden-almond-shaped-eyes boy was looking at Keigo for a few more seconds before standing up and shaking his arm.

"Oi, Monkey King, wake up," he said spotting the bottle full of yellow pills standing next to the computer. Ryoma raised an eyebrow at this discovery. He had no idea that the silver-head was taking some medicines, but before he had a chance to examine them closer Keigo started to wake up.

At first the diva thought that it was still a dream. Ryoma was standing next to his bed. Unfortunately after hearing," You have to be downstairs in five minutes," and the sound of the closing door he was brutally dragged back into reality.

_Damn_, Keigo thought after checking the time on the watch that was laying on the night-table next to his bed. It was barely six in the morning, which meant that he slept no more that three hours. Again.

His head was spinning and the first thing he had done after getting onto his feet was looking for some painkillers. He opened his laptop bag and started to search through it. He forgot to mention Takuma yesterday that he would need those pills too, but when his hand hit on a small box the smiled popped onto his face. _Well done Takuma._

Keigo swallowed two pills at once having a feeling that today would be at least as hard as yesterday.

Maybe taking the medicines on an empty stomach wasn't the wisest idea, but right now Atobe really didn't have a choice. Moreover he had to be ready in less than five minutes. _Is it even feasible?!_

When twenty past six sharp all the players gathered in front of the inn Nanjiroh went out of the building still yawning. He scratched the back of his head as he examined the states the players were in.

Some of them would surely bear with what he had planned for today, but definitely not all of them. Even after taking a bath at the hot springs yesterday, there were still pretty worn out.

Promptly changing his plans Nanjiroh finally spoke, "About three miles away from here is a shop. You are welcome to grab whatever you want for breakfast. I will take care for a bill. Everyone can take the food only for themselves. First training starts at eight. You are dismissed."

"I'm sorry Nanjiroh-sensei, but going back and forth will take us two hours*. There is no way we could be on time," Yanagi stated after a short calculations he has made dividing the distance by the average walking pace.

"That's why I would suggest you to run. Then you can do this in one hour, so you will still have over half an hour for breakfast."

There was a loud murmur among the players. The solution was simply, but not necessary the one they liked, so Nanjiroh decided to give them some more _options._ This way they could _choose._

"Of course there are two more options," Nanjiroh started happy to see all those curious glances aimed at him. He must have had used all his will power to refrain from laughing.

"Second option," he started again, "Is that you don't eat breakfast, so you don't have to run and can sleep one and a half hour more, but personally I wouldn't recommend it if you want to survive the morning training."

He hit the bull's eye. This option was really out of the question. After all, they needed energy and even if they brought some snacks with them, all of them were left at the center yesterday. They had no other choice, but to pray that the last proposition would be better.

"The third and the last option is," Nanjiroh interrupted for a while wanting to remember this moment well before dropping a bomb on all the boys.

"Is what Nanjirh-sensei?" one of the players asked impatiently.

"Is to run back to the Saitama Sport Center, where the really tasty and nutritious breakfast will be waiting for you."

Most of the tennis players sweatdropped. This man couldn't be serious, could he? Did he just want them to run this damn long thirty miles again with their empty stomachs? Not to mention that most of them still didn't recover after yesterday.

"Clever," Yukimura commented when Nanjiroh gave them time to take the decision, if you could say that they had any choice.

"Eee," Tezuka confirmed.

"He made it look as we had three options, although in reality there isn't any choice."

A moment later the whole group came into a silence agreement and started to run towards the shop. The time was once again working against them.

Whole Monday and Tuesday went to all the players extremely slowly. They almost felt that each day had thirty hours instead of twenty-four. Their whole time was filled with runs, push-ups, sit-ups, squats, split steps and every other exercise one can only think of. It's true, that Nanjiroh only required from them the attendance at the trainings and besides that they could do whatever they only wanted, but the truth was that that they were either sleeping or relaxing in the hot springs. They were simply too exhausted to even think about anything else.

With each hour all the players were more and more tired, Fuji was more angry and gloomy and everyone started to obtain immunity to the twins. For Sanada and Tezuka the withdrawal from their painkillers was becoming tougher and tougher, Keigo looked paler and Ryoma was worried, driving Kevin mad, because the price was spacing out all the time.

On Wednesday after the breakfast Nanjiroh announced the return to the center. It was the best moment for them to come back, because their muscles accustom to the exercises and extra effort and finally stopped being sore.

Players divided into small groups and started to run. The last one to leave the inn was Atobe, who by now was in really bad shape. Each evening he was taking a pill and stayed late up night working. It was the forth day in a row when was he sleeping only three hours and his organism was revolting against such a treatment pretty hard and often. Not even the painkillers he was taking in the morning could help him anymore.

Keigo adjusted the laces in his sneakers and stood up from the ground he was sitting on. Unfortunately this motion was much too fast for him. He felt dizzy, his head spun and heart started to thump in very irregular manner. His vision dimmed, tinnitus blocking external sounds. Keigo closed his eyes and fell on the ground loosing his consciousness.

Nanjiroh knew it was coming so he dialed nine-one-one and run to Keigo. He positioned him on the ground, with his legs slightly elevated letting the blood to move easier toward his heart and brain. Nanjiroh made sure that Keigo was freely breathing and didn't injure his head than covered him with a jersey.

Echizen senior took out his cell phone from his pocked and started to flick through his address book. He has chosen one of the first numbers and called.

"Hello," Nanjiroh heard a cold voice in the speaker.

"I hope your are proud of yourself Kazuhiro," Echizen started slowly, "Your son did exactly the same thing you did."

For a moment there was a silence. Atobe senior tried to comprehend what Nanjiroh was talking about, but after a while he closed his eyes and asked calmly, "Which hospital is he in?"

"I've called an ambulance and I'm taking him to Shino Hospital," Nanjiroh informed.

"I understand. I will arrange a private ward and doctors."

There was a silence for a while before Kazuhiro spoke again, "Thank you for taking care of him," and the line went dead.

Nanjiroh sighed. He knew that Atobe loved his son in his own way, but the last sentence sounded almost like "Thank you for making business with our company." He looked at Keigo who gained his consciousness for a while but shortly after passed out again. He was too tired to even hold his eyes open.

Nanjiroh starred at his cell phone for a while. He knew that he should call Ryoma, otherwise his son would kill him later, but still he decided to wait few more hours. The thing that Keigo needed now the most was sleep and a rest and knowing his son, Nanjiroh was sure that Ryoma would probably beat Keigo up for what he has done to himself.

"The flight number AF201 from New York has just landed," the voice coming from the speakers at the Narita Airport announced.

A few minutes later young man around twenty two years old grabbed the luggage and started to push his way to the exit, maneuvering amongst other passengers and their families.

This seemingly easy task wasn't that simply. Not if he had to at the same time keep an eye on his five years old son.

"**Junior! Come back here!"** he shouted to the greenish-black hair boy, who was really excited with his first journey to Japan. Adding the fact that the kid inherited one particular gene of stubbornness and not listening to others that apparently was strongly present in all males in their family, keeping the brat in one place was almost impossible. The promise of meeting his favorite uncle didn't help either.

Both, the man and his son, took a taxi in front of the airport, throwing their luggage and the equipment they've brought with them into the trunk and rode north of Tokyo. The trip took them no more than half an hour and after thirteen-hours-long flight they were very contented that they will arrive right for the dinner.

"**Grandpa!"** the boy exclaimed leaving the taxi, clinging tightly to Nanjiroh, who has just came out of the Saitama Sport Center, almost making the older Echizen to suffocate.

"Hello Oyaji," Ryoga smirked not even trying to pull off his son from Nanjiroh.

"Welcome Ryoga," Nanjiroh responded finally putting his grandson on the ground and examining him accurately. There was no doubt that the boy was Echizen, although Ryoga found out about him when the boy was almost two years old and now he was raising him alone. His mother once decided that she is too young for this and one day she just came to Ryoga, announced that it's his son and left.

"**Where is Lyoma?"** Junior asked with sparks in his gold almond-shaped eyes? The two of them were really attached to each other. When Junior turned three he declared that he is going to beat Ryoma in tennis thereby winning the latter's heart. Since then Ryoma started to teach his nephew whenever they met.

At the beginning Junior could only catch and throw the ball, but his stubbornness and wide smile whenever he succeeded, made Ryoma's heart each time to melt. By know the kid could even return the ball and made some light rally.

"**I'm sorry Junior, but Ryoma had something important to do and will come in the evening****," **the expression on the kid's face darkened immediately. He put on his biggest treasure, Fila cap he received from Ryoma, and crossed his arms showing clearly his displeasure.

"**Do you see this building?" **Nanjiroh patted Junior on his head and pointed the building in front of them, **"Kevin is inside. Go look for him. I'm sure he will play with you and teach you something, so you could beat up Ryoma later- " **Nanjiroh couldn't even finish his sentence, because the small ball of energy dashed into the given direction leaving his father and grandfather behind.

"Ryoga are you sure that it's your son? Each day he resembles Ryoma more and more."

"How many times do I have to tell you Oyaji that he is MY son, and Ryoma was eleven… ELEVEN when Junior was born," Ryoga responded not taking an offence. His father made that comment each time he saw his grandson and Ryoga was too immune to his lame sense of humor.

Junior rushed through the door looking for a blond, but when he took a corner he run onto scary looking black-hair teen and bounced on the ground loosing his cap. The raven looked down on the kid. He has just finished this insanely long run and all sweaty was waking towards the bathroom dreaming about the shower. Right now he could scare to death more than one adult, but the kid just got up on his feet and smiled to him, mumbled something that sounded like **"Sorry."**

At first the raven wanted to yell on the kid for running and not looking ahead, but the voice stuck in his throat when he surveyed the boy, who just lifted his cap and dashed further. The raven started to shake._ Those hair, those eyes, even this cap_… _Fuck, fuck, fuck. _In one moment he forgot about the shower and rushed to the common room. He opened the door and started to babble almost suffocating.

"I… he… Echizen… small…Oh my God!" he needed to grab the frame to not to slide down on the ground.

"What are you talking about Kirihara?" Fuji asked putting away his cup of green tea.

"I'm telling you… he… small… little…" Kirihara started to make gestures as it would help other to understand him.

"I think that he has just gone crazy," Momoshiro stated looking at the terror in raven's eyes.

"The distance was too big and he hallucinates from the exhaustion," Kamio added agreeing with Momo.

Kirihara approached the red head in a swift motion and grabbed him for the collar of his t-shirt. "Who is hallucinating?" he shouted, "I'm telling you I've just seen little Echizen!"

"Of course you did Akaya," Yukimura just entered the room and didn't want to be witness of his kouhai killing another player, "we believe you. Just put Kamio down on the ground," he added calmly but firmly.

"I thought that you were heading to the bathroom. Maybe you will take a cold shower and we will talk about it later, ne?" Yukimura smiled sending shivers down the backs of most of the players. Sometimes he could be even scarier than Fuji.

Few minutes later another Rikkai Dai player was having huge problems believing his senses. He has just saw… not only saw, but also talked to Echizen… and this Echizen was about his height. Sanada rested his back against the wall and slide down. He shivered at the very memory of the event from before a moment. Sanada started to analyze the situation carefully. _There must be some logical explanation. _He was walking to the kitchen when he spotted a man. No matter how much he thought about it he looked exactly like Echizen… just there was something wrong with his height.

"_Echizen?" Sanada asked still not believing his eyes._

_The man stopped and asked, "Yes?"_

_Now Sanada couldn't neither move nor think about anything to ask. The only thing he managed to stutter out was short, "No, nothing."_

The Rikkai Dai vice-captain leaned his head against the wall. _Just great. I'm going insane._ In this moment Sanada made a strong resolution that he will definitely have to see a doctor. Maybe he was addicted to pain killers, maybe the withdrawal wasn't the easiest, but it was too much for him to bear. What if he will start seeing other things? But first thing first. He needed to find Yukimura.

Sanada stood up from the ground, brushed his jersey off and went towards the common room at the ground floor. He opened the door and when he saw his captain words started to flow out of his mouth on their own.

"I… he… Echizen… big… tall…"

The occupants of the room have just experienced déjà vu, but this time they said nothing letting Yukimura to solve the problem. And apparently Rikkai Dai had a _huge_ problem.

"Of course Genichirou. We believe you," Yukimura approached his vice-captain placing a hand on his arm. "Maybe you will take a cold shower and we will talk about it later, ne?" he smiled and turned Sanada back to the door. The latter nodded and silently left. None of the remainder has enough guts to make a sound, not to mention to comment on the whole situation.

Ryoma rushed through the hospital door taking his steps right to the second floor. He will deal with his baka Oyaji later. How could he not to tell him earlier? But now Echizen had to give a piece of his mind to another idiot. The tennis star dashed through the corridor not paying attention to all the nurses yelling either that he couldn't ran in the hospital or that he couldn't see Atobe right now. He didn't even notice the middle aged man that was walking in the same direction.

Echizen opened the door with a loud sound and saw Keigo sitting on the bed. The nurse woke him up few minutes ago to administer him some medicines and take some more blood samples.

Ryoma clenched his teeth and approached the bed. Keigo smiled at the sight of his boyfriend, but the smile soon was replaced by a grimace when Ryoma's hand connected with a back of Keigo's head. It definitely wasn't the greeting the diva was expecting.

"What was that for brat?" Keigo demanded massaging the painful place.

"**Are you insane Monkey King?" **Ryoma shouted shifting into English. It was a bad sign. He always did it, when he was extremely mad. **"Did your brain stopped working?" **Echizen continued his tirade and had no intention of stopping, **"You are a stubborn idiot. Who the hell in this world is working until he passes out? What the fuck did think?-"**

"Are you mad at Ore-sama?" Keigo barged into Ryoma's monolog when the other interrupted to take in some air.

"Mad is a strong word… Not strong enough, but will pass." Echizen replied sinking onto the chair next to the bed.

"So you really like Ore-sama, ahn?" Keigo smiled knowing that Ryoma yelled at him, because he was worried about him and it was just his way to demonstrate it.

"Che. Don't go getting a swellhead Monkey King," the prince said feeling relieved that his boyfriend was all right after all.

The man, who Ryoma passed earlier while running, was observing the whole scene through the ajar door. He was really astonished. Firstly, because his own son let this greenish-black hair teen to shout at him, secondly, because Echizen has enough guts not only to shout at Keigo but also to smack him. It was pretty interesting view.

Kazuhiro chuckled faintly at the memory of the reaction of his girlfriend, and a current wife, when he fainted from overworking, when he was young. It was a harsh reaction, but nowhere near the one has he just witnessed. No matter what other thought about his raising methods, he loved his only son and decided to turn a blind eye to his relationship with Echizen. For now that is.

Kazuhiro U-turned and left almost in the last second. If he would peep on Keigo and Ryoma any minute longer he could change his mind.

The diva grabbed Echizen's neck and pulled him closer putting their lips together. He was slowly caressing Ryoma's mouth pleading for forgiveness. The prince hesitated for a longer while, but with each second his rage was evaporating. Soon he drew his lips slightly aside letting Keigo in. Atobe didn't need any additional invitation and shoved his tongue in. He deepened the kiss, making it more and more sensual, his tongue thoroughly exploring Ryoma's mouth, savoring the taste of his boyfriend.

"I'm not ever going to let you go again," Keigo whispered when they parted to take some air.

Ryoma didn't response, but in return he sat on the bed, put his right hand on the back of Atobe's smooth hair and draw him closer kissing him hungrily.

**LEMON WARNING**

Few minutes, and tons of exchanged saliva later Atobe rolled atop Echizen. Still placing the kisses along his boyfriend neck he grabbed a phone and pushed number one. When he heard the voice in the speaker he let go Ryoma for a moment only to demand not being disturbed for few hours.

"You should be still and don't move Monkey King. Ill people aren't supposed to move," Ryoma gasped when Keigo's hands were making their way under his shirt.

Atobe's hands were wandering on Ryoma's chest, before he grabbed the hem of his shirt and lift the thin fabric away.

Keigo was covering Ryoma's neck with a shower of kisses when the latter threw his head back and moaned, to undisguised satisfaction of the diva. He missed this so much. God only knows how much he hated this tension between them for the past few days.

Atobe reached Ryoma's right nipple with his hand, not stopping to explore every inch of his abs with his mouth, and slowly started to massage it. A gasp of pleasure escaped the young tennis player as his nipple was teased. He was already getting hard and his mind was slowly getting blank. Keigo couldn't help, but to smile to himself at the reactions he was receiving from his lover.

With the rest of his awareness Ryoma rolled from below Keigo and topped him pinning his hands to the bed. The diva didn't even think about protesting.

Ryoma unceremoniously took off Keigo's shirt and covered one of his nipples with his mouth, flicking his tongue over it, watching it getting hard, his right hand toying with the other one. He was sucking both of them alternately until he felt Atobe's erection jerked against his abs. Keigo immersed his right hand in Ryoma's hair and arched his back in pleasure, letting some moans from his mouth.

In one swift motion Ryoma pulled down Keigo's both, pants and boxers, watching his penis sprang out. He touched it gently, running his hand along it, than stopping at the head, swiping a thumb over a drop of a pre-cum. Keigo shuddered, revealing the sheer pleasure that this one action caused.

Tracing a bulging vein Ryoma lowered his head, taking a deep breath of Keigo's scent, then took the tip of the head into his mouth, swirling a tongue around it. Keigo moaned when Ryoma's hot mouth engulfed him, sucking, licking. He placed a hand on Echizen's head encouraging him to taking more of the erection into his mouth. He was so close, he could feel it. Ryoma was working really hard to make him feel like in heaven.

Pleased with Keigo's reaction Ryoma increased the pace taking the older boys' ball with his hand. Atobe arched his back when the next wave of pleasure ran through his body. His stomach clenched, his balls hardened and he saw stars behind his eyelids as he spurted into Ryoma's mouth, several jerks later.

After a while Keigo opened his eyes and looked straight into golden eyes boiling with arousal, and spotted his semen dripping down Ryoma's mouth and chin. At this picture alone his penis started to get up again.

Keigo swiftly grabbed Ryoma's arm and pulled him down again, dropping him on the bed with a bounce. He took of the rest of Ryoma's clothes and moved his legs up trailing soft kisses down his inner tight, one hand stroking his erection.

When Atobe reached Ryoma's entrance he slowly pushed his tongue in, lubricating him with his own saliva. He was pulling it in and out of the smaller teen thoroughly wetting him. Ryoma bit his lips trying not to shout. They didn't want to alarm hospital staff.

When Atobe was satisfied with his work he replaced his tongue with a finger. Ryoma groaned, pushing down on the finger, causing Atobe to chuckle slightly at his reaction as he added another finger and scissored the entrance, soon adding a third. Ryoma's groans of pleasure were making Atobe's already erect shaft even harder and he pulled his fingers out.

"You are like a little kitten," Keigo said positioning himself between Ryoma's legs.

"Who are you calling a cat?" the young tennis prince lifted his upper body on his elbows.

"Kitten"

"Shaddup," was only thing Ryoma could gasp, before falling down on the bed feeling Keigo inside him. The diva trusted completely inside

Ryoma threw his head back and groaned, wrapping both legs around Keigo's waist and pulling him closer. The silver-head panted as he grabbed Ryoma's hips, pushing into him harder and faster. Ryoma placed his hand in Atobe's hair urging the older one to give him more. More pleasure. More sensation.

"Ah, Kei. More, please," he begged.

Keigo has changed angles and hit Ryoma's prostate dead on. Echizen managed to cover his mouth in the last second, before screaming in ecstasy. Atobe didn't stop to slam into his lover. He knew exactly when he was hitting his prostate, because Ryoma's back were arching more and more and the prince was covering his mouth tighter and tighter.

Keigo groaned and felt that he wouldn't last much longer. His hand reached in between their bodies, wrapping itself around Ryoma's neglected arousal, and he began to pump him in time with his thrusts.

Few more thrusts and Keigo cum inside Ryoma moaning his name as quietly as only he could. Soon enough the latter joined splashing his semen between their chests, covering his and Keigo's stomachs, as well as the silver-head hand, arching his back and falling back on the bed, Keigo on the top of him. The two of them were lying there, panting. Ryoma has already forgotten that he came here in the first place to give the diva a good wigging.

**LEMON END**

"I'm sorry Ryoma," Atobe said kissing his boyfriend on the lips.

"Just promise me that you will never, ever do this again."

"I wish I could, but there are a lot of people working for me and I'm responsible for them. I cannot just abandon them. Please try to understand Ryoma."

"You are leaving me no choice Monkey King, but seriously please don't do it again," Ryoma asked standing from the bed and looking for his underwear and jersey.

"You have done it again. Monkey King. I'm gonna get internal bleeding from those kissmarks," Ryoma said examining his chest, "I won't be able to take of my clothes off in front of anyone for a while."

"Ore-sama is fine with you not taking your clothes in front of other people," Keigo smirked watching Ryoma dressing up.

At the Saitama Sport Center all the players gathered in a common room after the dinner. Nanjiroh stood in front of them. He has already explained that Atobe has some health problem and probably will have to stay overnight at the hospital and that he has sent Ryoma to check on his condition.

"Ok, I'm going to introduce you a person who will also be your coach from now on."

"Yo," Ryoga said entering the room and waving a hand to the players. Former Seigaku players knew him already, so they took his resemblance to Ryoma pretty calmly, what couldn't be said about the rest. Sanada almost hyperventilated.

"Did I miss something?" Ryoma entered the room a while later and now all the players could compare them. "What are you doing here Ryoga?" he asked when he spotted where all the eyes of his colleges were fixed on.

"Yo Chibisuke! Did you miss your older brother?"

"Not really, but-"

"**Lyoma!" **Ryoma couldn't finish his sentence because Junior dashed into the room throwing himself onto his uncle, almost tackling him to the ground.

Kirihara sweatdropped. _Oh… my… God… This cold shower didn't help me at all. I really went crazy, _he thought seeing three almost identical persons, despite the fact that one Echizen was small, one was normal and one was tall. Right now the raven didn't know that he wasn't the only one who thought that has a serious problem with his sanity.

* * *

* Taken from Wikipedia. Average walking pace is 3 miles per hour.

**A/N**:I hope you've enjoyed it. It's two am in the morning here, but I really wanted to finish it for you. I became greedy, and your reviews are the ones I'm craving for, so don't let me down...


	16. Older brother

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Possible **MPREG** in the future. If you don't know what that means you should check it beforehand. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**Warning #2: **This chapter is not beta-ed.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R: **ShioLee, HiKaRi-ChIbI, animelover4ever69, ryoka-chan, 14thEternityNightMare, EchizenRyomaLover, Rika-chi, Pri-Chan 1410, Kiana, queenruby987, sukoi-sugoi, erisreigned, denizen of the night, TQWEE, ILOVEGAARA, lajascot, Koshimae Ryo, Kiriyuu69, what the gaaah, tsub4ki, xxSnowxxAngelxx, Lady Monozuki, Benny-sama, NiGhT eAtEr, Jinju17, sasodei-iz-awesome, Ash, kate-sama, YukikoChan-KN, Are-You-Ready

**Important A/N**:I have lots of things to tell you, so I will try to make it as short as possible.

I'm really sorry that this update took me so much time, but I was very busy and didn't want to give you something that wouldn't be well written and well-thought-of.

About chapter 17… It's highly possible that it will be published in 2-3 months, because I and my sister are going to Alaska for 2 month to earn money for our two-week trip to Japan. YAY! I'm so excited about it! I'll be back at home at the beginning of the September.

Current pairs in this fic: Shishido with Ohtori, Momo and Ann, Ryoma and Atobe. Fuji and Oshitari aren't a couple - see the part after the lemon end in chapter 13.

About Junior. His name is Ryoga Echizen Junior. The only other option was Ryota (everything else sounds just bad, like Ryoba or Ryoka)… so you have to understand.

Remember bolded arewords** spoken in English**.

Ok, that's all. You can now peacefully read and enjoy the fic =)

**ENJOY !**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 1****6: Older brother **

_Previously on chapter 15__:_

"_**Lyoma!" **__Ryoma couldn't finish his sentence because Junior dashed into the room throwing himself onto his uncle, almost tackling him to the ground._

_Kirihara sweatdropped. __Oh… my… God… This cold shower didn't help me at all. I really went crazy, __he thought seeing three almost identical persons, despite the fact that one Echizen was small, one was normal and one was tall. Right now the raven didn't know that he wasn't the only one who thought that has a serious problem with his sanity. _

_

* * *

_

Echizen was looking into the gold eyes of his nephew. The boy was still tightly clinging to him.

"What are you doing here Junior?" Ryoma asked putting the boy back on the floor.

"**Daddy said that we are going to show some kids how to play tennis,"** Junior grinned looking innocently at his favorite uncle.

Nanjiroh looked at his oldest son, who only shrugged his shoulders. He was totally invulnerable to the glances he received from most of the players. After all it was nothing, but truth, wasn't it?

To be honest saying, that all the boys were still deeply shocked after seeing all the Echizens together would be a severe understatement.

"Didn't dad tell you that you should speak in Japanese when you are in Japan?" Ryoma asked Junior, although he sounded rather amused than scolding. He grabbed the boy's hand and nodded at Kirihara, "Not everyone here are as smart as you and know English."

"Echizen you bastard!" the raven exclaimed ready to give Ryoma a piece of his mind, but unfortunately was quickly shut with a smack on his head.

"Bakaya, watch your mouth," Gakuto scolded his kouhai pointing at Junior, who was watching them with curiosity.

The youngest Echizen's eyes became even wider when recognized Kirihara. He let go of Ryoma's hand and made a few steps forward. All eyes focused on him when he stretched one of his small arms and by waving his hand he asked the raven too come closer.

Kirihara blinked. He barely recovered from the shock called _triple Echizen_, and now this kid wanted something from him. He was about to start a mental debate with himself, whether or not he should move, but he wasn't given the time to think the things over, because Gakuto apparently decided to make this decision for him. The red head hit Kirihara's back forcing him forward. The raven approached Junior slowly, as afraid that the kid would bit him, than crouched down in front of him.

Junior was looking for a few seconds into Kirihara's eyes studying him. At least as much as a five year old kid could analyze anyone. When he finally decided that he liked the raven, Junior moved his hand and patted Kirihara on the head. "You are mada, mada dane, but don't worry I will teach you," he grinned revealing the whole range of teeth.

Upon hearing those words Akaya turned red, Gakuto together with Kamio fell on the floor laughing insanely until their stomachs started to hurt and the rest of the players were at least chuckling. Some of them, like Tezuka and Sanada, made no little effort to mask it well. Or so they thought.

"That kid is definitely an Echizen," Fuji stated smiling honestly. At least for a second he stopped thinking about countless methods of making hell from American's strategist life.

"Now we know that cockiness is their family feature," Yukimura added looking at the confused Kirihara. The poor raven was still speechless. His current state however wasn't too different from most of the others players, although the very reason of their inability to speak was totally different.

"When I look at them I cannot help, but to think that soon 'Echizen' will become a synonym for 'tennis' in Japan," Sengoku said to Tachibana still doubting his eyes.

Among all those surprised players there was one who actually felt relieved. As much as Sanada was shocked, he was still really glad that his sanity was safe. Everything with his poor senses was alright. At least for now. He didn't suffer from hallucinations. He simply saw and spoke to Echizen's oldest brother. Really, why didn't he come up with it earlier?

Till today they had to deal with a sadistic coach, who apparently tried to exhaust them to death and his cocky and arrogant son, but now there were two more of them. The youngest Echizen somehow took liking to Kirihara, what considering the raven's attitude and scary look border to miracle, and Ryoga… well so far he was the biggest unknown.

The loose atmosphere that was currently filling the whole room was shortly broke by Ryoga. He crossed his arms looking daggers at Tony, the most peaceful guy in American's team **" I see that a little demon is also attending the camp."**

"**Don't pretend that you didn't know," **the light brown hair boy responded squinting his eyes. His voice drooped of an octave, and somehow managed to lower the temperature in the whole room. **"If you are going to be our coach I would better not waste my time here. There is nothing you can teach me anyway," **he snapped dangerously.

"**Oh?" **Ryoga lifted his eyebrows, **"Shall I remind you, who were the one that lost to me last month?"**

At those words Tony redden a little from anger, but didn't lose his temper. After all his arguments with Ryoga, smaller or bigger, were usually on the agenda.

"**It was a fluke," **he stated calmly.

"**Fluke my ass Tony," **Ryoga shouted approaching American teen and alerting thereby everyone in the room. When he was barely few feet away from the teen Oishi stepped between them and spread his arms ahead of Tony in a protective manner. He couldn't take it anymore.

"Please stop it Ryoga-san," Tawamure's mother-hen asked in Japanese, knowing that Ryoga would understand him. They came here to train not to argue and if it continues, more obscenities could be used and he definitely wouldn't let them corrupt Junior's innocent mind any longer. However, neither he, nor anybody, was expecting the progress of events.

Ryoga was scanning the teen in front of him for a while, before a creepy laugh came from his throat. It faded a few second later and the look on Ryoga's face changed suddenly. He looked now more mature and angry. **"I see you've found yourself a new boyfriend,"** he stated looking at Oishi.

At the beginning nobody was able to fully process Ryoga's words, but Tony was the first who catch on what his ex-boyfriend was implying. He had no idea how the hell Ryoga jumped to this conclusion, but after giving the idea a short thought, he decided to take an advantage of the situation and do not rectify this misunderstanding, pissing the older green head as much as possible.

"**So, what if I've found. It's not your business," **he said seductively leaning to the stunned Oishi. He casted his arm around the taller boy's neck and added, much quieter this time, ** "Not anymore anyway."**

By now Ryoga looked quite furious, although he tried his best to hide it as much as possible.

_Just great. Another damn quarrel _Ryoma thought and grabbed his nephew's hand. The littlest Echizen accepted it without a single complaint. Almost from when he could remember his Dad and Tony were quarreling, then they didn't speak with each other for some time and then they were making up and everything was good once again. At least till their next quarrel. Junior even walked on them once, when they were reconciling after one of their big arguments. The only thing, the boy couldn't understand, was why his father was insisting that he and Tony were riding a roller coaster instead of making sex. Honestly having Nanjiroh as a grandfather was bringing some consequences and well… knowledge.

As for the reactions of the other players to the little display served by Tony and Ryoga… they were quite predictable. Shock was clearly painting on their faces. After all Oishi and Kikumaru weren't officially together, but everybody knew that there was chemistry between them for years. The Golden Pair was just in denial, or maybe they were too shy to admit it and needed a trigger?

"I had no idea that you are such a playboy Oishi-senpai," Ryoma commented with his provocative tone, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Tezuka didn't even have a time to scold the American Team's captain, because the commotion grew bigger when Kikumaru threw a tantrum. He slid on his knees and started sobbing. The only words that were leaving his mouth were "How could you Oishi… how could you…"

It took a good several minutes and lots of explanations and reassuring words from Oishi and Fuji to soothe the red-head. The only displeased with the whole situation was Tony, whose plan just blew up.

Ryoga only smirked and turned to his younger brother ready to change the subject. "Chibisuke we are going for a drink tonight," he stated firmly not leaving Ryoma any chance to refuse. Most of the players averted their gazes from, now much calmer, Eiji and waited for Ryoma's reply. Even Tezuka couldn't say much, first because the young prodigy wasn't now his teammate and subordinate anymore and second because the proposition came from his older brother and everything saw their father, so even the stoic captain knew that he shouldn't butt in.

The most uninterested in the whole fuss teen only sighed. "How many times do I have to remind you that I'm still under-age and cannot drink. Even in Europe."*

Tezuka crossed his hands on his chest and nodded silently. _Good._

"Oi, don't be so modest Ryoma. It's not like it's your first time anyway," Ryoga smiled. It definitely wasn't something that Tezuka wanted to hear.

Older Echizen than turned to the blond American vice-captain and added, "You are going too Kevin. You know that you are like a younger brother to me."

"You can count me aniki," Kevin grinned. He wasn't the one to refuse a free alcohol.

"Why don't you start calling me like that too, Chibisuke?" Ryoga asked almost innocently. If you didn't know him you could even think that he was the most carrying older brother in the whole world.

"In your dreams," Ryoma backchatted.

Now even Fuji raised an eyebrow on their kouhai's behavior. Maybe in the United States that kind of _impolite_ answer was perfectly normal, but in Japan it was a completely different story. Each manifestation of lack of respect towards older than yourself was considered really rude, despite the person being your family or not.

"Don't be mad Ryoma," Ryoga sent his brother seemingly warm smile, but the young Echizen knew better. His brother was definitely up to something.

And he wasn't mistaken.

"You know how much I like your ideas every time we are going out," Ryoga started, receiving a death glare from Ryoma. "Your last one was especially good. Oh, what did you do with the piercing from the last time?" he asked pretending that first, he didn't noticed the lack of silver piece of jewelry in Ryoma's left eyebrow earlier, and second, that he didn't know that wearing it while still being a student was prohibited in Japan.

"I warn you Ryoga," Ryoma hissed, "One more word and I won't take you anymore to Federico's beach house."

_Fe__derico? _That name ensured both brothers the full attention from all the Japanese players around them. _They must have been talking about some other Federico, haven't they?_

"Oh a threat?" the older Echizen asked, not even slightly surprised. "Good one, but you are still ten years too young my brother to threaten me. Maybe I should call Selena and tell her that you have changed your mind and would like to date her, ne?"

_Selena? T__hat Selena?_

After the long eye-to-eye battle Ryoma reluctantly capitulated. He turned around and proceeded to the exit.

"At seven downstairs," Ryoga added before his brother disappeared around the corner.

_That's it? No fighting? No more threats? _The end of their brotherly _exchange of opinions_ was rather… sudden.

After Ryoma's leaving, the players were finally given a chance to contemplate the events of the present day. This afternoon was far more intense than any of them could possibly imagine. After recovering from one shock, another, even bigger than the one before, was falling upon them. And that's over and over again.

"Say Kevin," Momo asked the blond teen after a while, "Did they just talk about _that_ Federico?"

Knowing Ryoma, he could possibly have been talking about Federico Martinez, the Spanish tennis player who for the last seven years didn't give up his spot among top ten players.

"If you mean Martinez, than yes," Kevin answered casually. They met the guy over two years ago and somehow become more or, in Ryoma's case, less friends. Since then, he insisted on spending with them a week sometime in June in his beach house in Portugal.

"So we can simply assume that this Selena who tries to date Echizen, is Selena Bouvie, the French number one female tennis player?" Yukimura rather stated than asked crossing his arms. Kevin simply nodded, not understanding what was so weird about it.

"But she is two years older than Echizen," Kirihara exclaimed as it was some kind of crime.

"So?" Kevin just shrugged his shoulders. He had no damn idea what they were implying. Seriously. She was just a nice girl with a crush on a guy. Nothing extraordinary.

xxx

In the hospital Atobe was woken up by a nurse just to be given another portion of his strengthening vitamins. When he was done with the whole procedure and after making sure that he was completely alone in his private ward, Keigo reached to the drawer near the his bed, took out his wallet and leaned heavily back on the fluffy cushion.

He looked out of the window. It was already darkening outside, which meant that he was in this terrible hospital, cut off from the Internet and his company, for more than ten hours. He sighed and withdrawn the small photo from the deepest pocket in his wallet. The picture showed a small boy holding hands with a very beautiful woman in long, red silk dress and an imposing man, wearing the suite worth of a small car. Behind them, hanging on the wall, was the huge paint of sword entangled by a bloody rose. Their family symbol.

Keigo closed his eyes and threw his head backwards. He remembered the time when that photo was taken pretty well. He was eight years old and it was one of the last happy memories he had with his father, and the end of his childhood at the same time.

After that moment his father became almost unattainable for his son. The only conversations they were sharing concerned Keigo's academic achievements. Nothing else mattered.

_..._

_Nine years old Keigo entered the house followed shortly by Takuma, his butler, guardian, caretaker and everyone the young master needed. The bright s__mile wasn't fading away from the boy's face for at least an hour now. It was one on the happiest day in the young heir's adolescence life. _

_Keigo peered to the dining room. At the end of the unnaturally long table, at the cup of the finest green tea, reading a newspaper, was sitting Kazuhiro. _

_The boy__ took a few deep breaths and started to strut towards his father. He didn't want show too many unnecessary emotions and got scolded._

"_Father," Keigo said nervously, placing the huge gold cup, the evident proof of winning the Youth Tennis Contest earlier that afternoon, on the table besides the older man. He waited for a while for any reaction from his father._

"_Today the results from the Monthly Science Test were announced. How high did you score?" Kazuhiro asked, not putting down his newspaper, pretending that he didn't see the trophy standing next to him._

_Keigo visibly saddened, but tried his best not to reveal it in his voice. "I got 92% father."_

_Another moment of silence. The boy really wanted his father to praise him. His academic results were way above average and his sport achievements in tennis were even better. He desperately wanted to prove his father that he can stand at the top. He just wanted his father to be proud of him. _

"_Next time be sure to get at least 95%." That was all Keigo heard from Kazuhiro. The older man recognized only the best from the best and apparently his son didn't meet his standards yet._

_Keigo lowered his head, grabbed the cup and silently left the room. He promised himself that he wouldn't be crying, but as soon as he closed the door to the dining room behind him, the warm drops fell from his eyes, wetting his small cheeks. _

_...  
_

The silver-hair teen opened his eyes. This memory precisely described the atmosphere and relations ruling in Atobe's mansion.

When he was young, Keigo was so proud of their family symbol and was wearing it sewed on most of his clothes. Growing up, however, he started to hate it more and more with each year. Everybody saw it as a symbol of wealth and success, but for Keigo it was a symbol of all the rules, prohibitions and expectations that were thrown at him from his early years.

The sword represented how sharp he became, both in life and business, and the rose represented all the beauty he was possessing thanks to his power. But Atobe saw there something more. The thorns. They reminded him on all the sacrifices he had to make to achieve what he had achieved.

Keigo sighed and put the photo back to the wallet. He wondered how his father could still be so loyal to this symbol. It's not, that he wasn't, after all he owed his family a lot, but he seriously doubted that he will ever like it again. It was related to too many bad memories and feelings.

xxx

"Oi Ryoma," Kevin shouted from the inside of the wardrobe. "Haven't you seen my blue shirt? You know this one we bought in New York last month," he described still digging in a pile of clothes.

Both boys were currently in their room. After arrival to Saitama Sport Center, early that afternoon, they divided themselves into pairs and were placed into not so big rooms, each with two beds, big wardrobe, desk and a bathroom. Because the Team USA consists of eight players Ryoma ended up in a room together with Kevin. _Oi, Monkey King won't be happy when he leaves the hospital and finds out that Yukimura is his roommate. _

You may wonder why the hell isn't Sanada sharing the room with his captain, but rather with Tezuka. To be honest neither of the two knew it too. The Rikkai Dai captain decided it for them, claiming that they can support each other while fighting with their pain killers' addiction.

They weren't however, the only interschool roommates. Momoshiro ended up with Tachibana, who still wasn't too fond of him dating his younger sister. Oshitari Yushi was paired with his, long time no see, cousin from Shitenhoji High, Kenya. Displeased with the turn of events Fuji was quickly snatched by his teammate Jirou, to a clear relief of Marui Bunta, who would give everything to avoid the sleeping teen, who was always oddly vivacious in his presence.

Definitely in the worst situation were Chitose with Sengoku and Shishido with Ohtori, who ended up in the rooms on the left and right side of the room occupied by the two loudest players – Kentaro Aoi and Kintaro Toyama. God help them, their ears and their sanity.

Ok, back to Kevin's problem with a missing piece of his favorite cloth. Up to now, he managed to throw the whole content of the wardrobe on the floor and still didn't find his blue shirt. Resigned and sad from Ryoma's lack of cooperation and insensitivity to his problems, the blond went to the bathroom and froze. There, hanging on the dryer, right next to the door, was his treasure. How could he have forgotten that he decided to refresh it a little just few hours ago, was a huge mystery.

"I see you've found your shirt," Ryoma said lifting his head from the bed, when Kevin reappeared in the room after the shower, wearing black jeans and his miraculously rediscovered blue shirt. His blond hair was nicely tied up in a loose pony-tail in the middle of his neck, adding him a few years by looks. By the scent filling the whole room, Ryoma could guess that Kevin used at least the quarter of his cologne water.

"Get up Ryoma," the blond said adjusting the buttons on his sleeves. It's half past six already."

"Yadda."

Kevin didn't even spare his friend a single glace, assessing what was he seeing in the mirror in front of him. "Can't we just skip the conversation to the point, where you finally get up from bed and take a shower?" _That's it. I look really hot. Blue is definitely my color._

"If you won't be downstairs in half an hour, Ryoga would call Selena," Kevin reminded, but got no response, so not discouraged continued. "You know he won't hesitate, so how will you explain to this prissy boyfriend of yours, what the queen of tennis female world is doing clinging to your arm like a leech?"

"Che," was the only thing Ryoma had to say to his best friend. He slowly got up, took some clothes from the wardrobe, a small box from the drawer next to his bed and disappeared in the bathroom.

When the green-head reappeared in the room fifteen minutes later, Kevin was still standing in front of the mirror adjusting his neckband for the hundredth time.

"Are we going?" Ryoma asked tossing his sports clothes on the bed and placing the, now empty, box back to the drawer.

Kevin turned around and eyed his captain, looking for any imperfections that needed to be improved, before their departure.

He was seeking and seeking, but found none. The black pants were ideally harmonized with a half buttoned up, short-sleeve, black shirt over a crimson long-sleeve undershirt. The silver earring in his left eye-brow was effectively attracting the attention to Ryoma's golden eyes and greenish-black hair slightly falling on his face.

Kevin knew how much his captain liked that piece of silver, although, he would never admit it aloud.

His other _souvenirs_ after going for a drink with Ryoga were a completely different story. Half a year ago he came back home with a burning red hair. For a whole week, Ryoma was doing whatever he could to get rid of a dye. He refused to listen to anybody who suggested that he should consider changing the color of his hair permanently.

However, the worst thing in the whole situation, was the fact, that all those, usually stupid, ideas were Ryoma's, and only his own. Somehow, the presence of his older brother mixed with an alcohol running through his veins was resulting in relieving deposits of uncontrolled desire to change his looks. Of course Ryoga, being the _mature_ and _responsible_ adult, never stopped him. And what about his father? Instead of trying to prevent his son from doing all those stupid things, Nanjiroh was taking pictures and laughing his guts out. _My life sucks sometimes._

xxx

The corridor downstairs the sport center was becoming more crowded and noisier. The huge glass door was flying open every few seconds. Fifty young tennis players, minus Ryoma and Kevin who didn't show up, were gradually leaving the huge dining room, after satiated, but well balanced late dinner. Even Inui and Renji couldn't complain after calculating the content of nutritious they have just consumed.

"If the food was so well prepared, why don't you Inui take some lessons from the chef? Maybe then your juices would more… hmm… edible," Oshitari stated bluntly.

The data man stopped in a half step almost making Sanada bump into him. He felt stabbed. Right into his heart. Throughout. To think that all those years he was trying his best to improve his teammates' condition, staying awake all nights, trying to invent better and better potions. And what was he getting in a return? A stab.

Inui was about to make the tensai an extend lecture about benefits of his creations, when the whole group stopped dead in their tracks.

In front on them, with their backs turned on to the players, were standing two men, hands in their pockets. One was blond and the other had his hair hidden under the dark casquette. They were dressed mainly in black.

Tezuka was the first one to step forward and take an initiative. After all, this center was fully reserved for their usage exclusively.

"I'm sorry sirs. Are you looking for someone?" Tawamure's captain asked approaching the two figures slowly.

Before he got his answer however, the next person was coming fast towards them. He was racing down the stairs, two stairs at once, jumping over the handrail at the end.

"**Sorry for being late, but I couldn't find Junior," **he excused himself in English.

When the man walked a little closer to them, the players were finally able to recognize him. _Ryoga._

They turned their eyes to the two men standing now with their sides to them, clearly showing their profiles.

"Echizen?"

"Huh?" Ryoma averted his gaze from his brother, "Did you want anything Tezuka-senpai?"

_Eeeeeeeeeeee. _

The players were speechless. First, they mistook Echizen and Kevin, who were basically two years younger than most of them, for some men, second, they saw Ryoma almost ignoring his former captain and third… _was it an earring in_ _his eyebrow?_

"I just wanted to ask why you weren't on the dinner Echizen," Tezuka promptly lied, "But I see that you are busy." He then turned to their new coach, "Aren't we going to have an evening training today Ryoga-sensei?"

The older Echizen looked at the stoic captain a little surprised. He has heard from his father that they were having trainings almost always whenever they weren't sleeping or eating. After all, it was the idea of the first week – to improve their stamina as much as possible, but he would have never thought, that they still would want more. For God's sake they've made today already 30 miles coming back from hot springs.

Ryoga sighed and looked at the players who were waiting for his answer. "Listen guys, I'm not here to babysit you. You've already accomplished the plan for today. However, if you still want more, go to the gym, or…" he thought for a while. "I don't now… to the swimming pool. It's downstairs. You are big boys and can take care of yourself, ne?" Ryoga smirked.

He took his time to look for the confused players for a while. _Really, they have to be more independent._

"**Ok, let's go guys." **He said to Ryoma and Kevin, when came to the conclusion that the other teens were given sufficient amount of instructions on what to do now.

"**Did you call the cab? "** Ryoma asked completely ignoring the presence of his senpais.

"**Ups"**

"**Ryoga," **Ryoma growled through the clenched teeth.

"**Just kidding."**

"**Or maybe not," **Ryoga smiled receiving a death glare from his brother.

"**Easy, easy. I've called an old friend of mine. He should be here-" **the older Echizen was interrupted by a loud horn, belonging to the red Ferrari that stopped abruptly in front of the front door, **"-right about now."**

He then faced remaining players and bid a farewell "Ok, have fun guys. We're off."

Both Echizens and Kevin turned around and proceeded to the exit. Few moments later all three of them left the center, jumped into the car and drove away.

"Did you see the same thing that I've seen?" Oshitari asked cocking an eyebrow, when they've heard the car outside burn rubber.

"Aaa," Sanada nodded.

"It seems that Echizen is leading now quite a high life," Yukimura stated squeezing Tezuka's arm reassuringly. Tawamure's captain didn't looked pleased about it at all.

xxx

Keigo was standing next to the kitchen table, chopping the carrots. When finished, he added them to the hot stock that was simmering on the stove for the last fifteen minutes. He took a spoon, tasted his creation and nodded approvingly.

How could Ryoma accuse him of _not_ knowing how to cook? _Just wait! I will show you, who can't cook here._

Keigo bend and glanced inside the oven. He opened the door and the hot air belched out. He took a fork and plunged it deep into the meet. It went down smoothly. _Perfect._

The gray-head set the timer for five more minutes and started to prepare the table. He put out two, square, porcelain dinner plates and two sets of cutlery. As soon as he arranged everything the timer started to beep.

Keigo went up to the oven and pressed the time switch off, but the beeping didn't stop. He hit the red button again.

Nothing.

Atobe tried one more time.

Still nothing.

When Atobe slowly started looking for a hammer, or at least for a rolling pin to silence the annoying sound, the room around him became blurry. Keigo shook his head and closed his eyes tightly trying to stop the surroundings from spinning.

When he opened them a few moments later, he found himself lying on his back in the dark room, the beeping sound still audible. _A dream. _He turned his head to the left and saw his cell phone flashing.

Keigo checked the ID. _Ryoma?_

"What happened Ryoma?" he asked still half asleep.

"-ve you Monk… Kink?"

"Ryoma it's 2 a.m. in the morning. I do not understand you at all."

"I sid ve yuuuu," Ryoma repeated still not so articulated.

"Ryoma." Keigo was too tired to play quizzes.

"I said, I LOVE YOUUUU" Ryoma shouted and the line went dead. Atobe blinked couple of times although he still couldn't really see anything, because of the darkness.

_That was…well… interesting…_ Keigo smiled. _It seems that sometimes Ryoma can be oddly affectionate._

xxx

Ryoma slowly opened his eyes. His alarm clock was ringing, no RINGING furiously, piercing straight through his brain. His eyelids were as heavy as made from a lead. His head was thumping.

_Fucking hangover.__ I should have eaten a dinner yesterday. Or at least lunch._

When the importunate sound of the alarm didn't faded away, with one prompt move Ryoma shoved his clock right into the opposite side of the room. The only thing he wanted now was to fall back into the pleasant and pain-soothing sleep.

As soon as he started floating away back to his much-needed slumber Kevin emerged from the bathroom. The blond pulled the comforter off from Echizen, reminding him harshly about the morning training.

_Shit._

Ryoma used most of his will power to sit up on the bed. The memories of the previous night started flowing through his head. The pub. Another pub. Phone call to Keigo.

_Shit._

Another pub. Tattoo studio.

_Shit, shit, shit. _

Ryoma carefully touched the place below the junction of his neck and a left shoulder. He felt a soft dressing and a sticking plaster.

_Even more shit._

So what was it about his older brother? Aaaaa… mature and responsible…

* * *

*In most European countries 18 is a legal age of adulthood that allows you to buy and drink alcohol.

**A/N**: How did you like it? Leave me a review =) All are really welcomed. Especially those constructive.


	17. Consequences

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**SPECIAL THANKS:** Koshimae Ryo for betaing.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R: **fanficfreak, denizen of the night**, **HiKaRi-ChIbI**, **EchizenRyomaLover**, **Lilela, Pri-Chan 1410**, **tsub4ki**, **what the gaaah, itachisgurl93, Sanz0girl, kate-sama, xxSnowxxAngelxx, Koshimae Ryo, xXHalfPrinceXx, tieriaISmine, AngeRayChan, BlackButterfly00, setsuko teshiba, Wings of Heaven, elsey951, bluedoves, TsukikoIchihara, Amy-sama90, Talia Gea, Santis, xxnamelessxsoulxx, Ali Midnight,

**A/N**: I know I owe you guys for not updating earlier. I'm sorry.

All of you, who wish Ryoma to stay an innocent child, should stop reading now. The rest of you – be prepared to see the bad side of our bratty prince =)

**ENJOY !**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 1****6: Consequences **

_**Previously on chapter 1**__**5:**_

_Ryoma slowly opened his eyes. His alarm clock was ringing, no, RINGING furiously, piercing straight through his brain. His eyelids were as heavy as if they were made__ up of lead. His head was thumping, making his vision a little blurry. _

_Fucking hangover. I should have eaten dinner yesterday__, or at least lunch._

_When the importunate sound of the alarm didn't fade__d away, with one prompt move, Ryoma shoved his clock right to the opposite side of the room. The only thing he wanted now was to fall back into the pleasant and pain-soothing sleep._

_As soon as he started floating away back to his much-needed slumber__, Kevin emerged from the bathroom. The blonde pulled the comforter off from Echizen, reminding him harshly about the morning training. _

_Shit._

_Ryoma used most of his will power to sit up on the bed. The memories of the previous night started flowing through his head. The pub. Another pub. Phone call to Keigo._

_Shit._

_Another pub. Tattoo studio._

_Shit, shit, shit. _

_Ryoma carefully touched the place below the junction of his neck and __ left shoulder. He felt a soft dressing and a sticking plaster._

_Even more shit._

_

* * *

_

"I had to admit that this time you went all the way," Kevin said, looking at his best friend who was sitting on the bed for a good five minutes, peeking at his newest acquisition through the slit he made between his skin and bandage.

"Shut up, Kevin," Ryoma snapped, sticking the bandage back to its right place - on his tattoo. He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, trying to force his mind to process the last night's events once more - more detailed this time.

The task turned out to be far more difficult than he expected it to be. His head was throbbing, quite effectively preventing him from every attempt of digging into his memory, let alone from thinking clearly.

After a few moments, he slowly lay back on the bed, letting the awful thumping in his head fade away a little. He put his left arm over his eyes, stopping the sunbeams from digging deeper into his skull.

It was very rare for Ryoma to have a hangover, not to mention that bad.

After a few seconds later, a loud growling coming straight from the lower part of his upper body filled the room; Echizen knew immediately what the cause of his current and not very pleasant state was – his empty stomach. First, he didn't eat lunch yesterday because he was visiting his stupid boyfriend, who overworked himself to unconsciousness, in the hospital. Second, it was because of the preparations he had to take before leaving with Ryoga and Kevin yesterday. He skipped dinner in the evening, too. So all in all, he basically didn't eat anything for the past 24 hours. It shouldn't surprise him then, that all alcohol he poured onto himself yesterday resulted in a nasty hangover today.

Echizen was lying with his eyes closed for what seemed to him like a few seconds, but in reality, it turned out to be a good ten minutes.

Once again, he found himself being brutally ripped away from his peaceful slumber by no one else, but his now very annoying roommate, who was shaking him not too gently.

"Oi, Ryoma, are you listening to me?" Kevin asked, seemingly irritated. Echizen, with his cocky, I–don't–give–a–shit–about–what–you –are–talking–about attitude, was quite hard to handle. Add a hangover to this, and you have don't–come–close–without–a–stick pissed teenager.

"Do me a favor, Kevin, and just shut up," the green-haired teen hissed with as much venom as he could muster.

The blonde closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths and sighed. He knew what's best, that Ryoma wasn't in a mood for _any _conversation right at the moment. Not that he ever was.

"Do whatever you want. Just remember that it's half-past-seven already. I'm pretty sure that Ryoga left a note with the training menu for today and is not going to show up for morning practice," Kevin paused to check if Ryoma was listening to him at all.

When Echizen raised his brows, urging the blonde to get to the point, Kevin approached the wardrobe at the corner of his room, looking for his favorite cap, while continuing what he was talking about earlier.

"I'm going to check if Rick and the rest of our team's gotten up already 'coz I'm pretty sure that they know what your brother is up to and take their time to move their lazy asses outside. If, by any chance, you decide to drag yourself out of the bed, you know where to find everyone."

"Hmm," was the only response the blonde was granted with, indicating that Ryoma actually absorbed what was said to him.

Kevin put his navy-blue cap on and took one more glance at his best friend before exiting the room, closing the door behind him as quietly as he could.

When Ryoma heard a soft thud, meaning that he was finally left alone, he opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling. He didn't want to move. All he wanted then was to go back to sleep, but taking into consideration that if he really did that, he would have to deal with all explanations to his senpai-tachi later on. No matter how hard that decision was for him at the moment, he decided to get up.

It took him several minutes before he finally pushed himself out of the bed. He stretched and popped the joints of his neck and back. That night couldn't be considered one of the most comfortable.

Ryoma juicily cursed his brother before moving closer to the big mirror that was hanging on the wall and so loved by his roommate.

Echizen took off his shirt and slowly approached the reflective surface. His eyes still didn't get used to the bright light seeping through the open window. It was an undeniable sign that against all Ryoma's prayers, it was already morning. His, right now oversensitive, hearing caught a sound of commotion, coming from the direction of the tennis courts. Ryoma, however, didn't even bother to look through the window to check what was going on. He was pretty sure that his senpai-tachi had found the note that Ryoga left for them, and they have no idea how to encode it.

Focusing back on his current state, Echizen looked at his reflection into the mirror. He was still wearing the jeans he wore the night before. His hair was a total mess, and his expression was almost screaming that he should go back to bed to get some more, so much needed, hours of sleep.

Ryoma rubbed his eyes in a desperate act to improve his still lightly blurry vision, so he could finally properly examine his tattoo. He slowly grabbed the hem of the bandage and delicately removed it, wincing when the plaster was losing its contact with his skin, leaving it tingling and itching at the same time.

When the whole bandage was finally taken off, Ryoma looked at his reflection and froze. He delicately traced the lines of his tattoo with his fingertips. It was beautiful, colored in red and black inks that were perfectly harmonized with each other. The tattoo wouldn't be that bad at all, if not for the fact of what it was actually showing. There was no chance in million years that Ryoma was going to show it to anyone, especially not to his boyfriend who wouldn't let him live it down.

To Ryoma's despair, Keigo chose exactly that particular moment to show up.

"I see that you had a pretty tough night, ne, Ryoma?"

Echizen almost jumped when he heard the voice. He quickly covered his tattoo, praying that Keigo didn't see it.

"What are you doing here, Monkey King?" Ryoma asked, watching his boyfriend, who was still leaning against the doorframe.

"Oi, where did that affectionate, cute boy from the previous night go?" Keigo asked teasingly while eyeing Ryoma. He could see how tired his boyfriend was. He noticed the earring on his left eyebrow. And most importantly, he caught a glimpse of his tattoo hidden under the plaster. Unfortunately, even with his outstanding vision, Keigo didn't see it fully because of the angle that Ryoma was standing with.

"I don't know what you are talking about, Monkey King," Ryoma retorted when a pair of arms slid down his stomach and were wrapped around his waist, pressing him against the owner's warm chest.

"Don't play dumb, Ryoma," Keigo whispered to his lover's ear, making him shiver a little when the warm breath caressed his skin. "I think that your confession could be heard throughout the whole Tokyo. If 'd only known that you were turning so wild after the alcohol, I would have taken you for a drink myself," he finished, biting Ryoma's earlobe slightly.

"How did you- "

"Oi, Ryoma, who do you think I am?" He asked rhetorically, not giving his boyfriend any chance to answer the question. "Look at yourself. You still wear the clothes from yesterday, have finally filled that small hole in your eyebrow with a piercing, have a fresh tattoo, and you look like you've suffered from the biggest hangover ever - not to mention that sweet phone call."

"Shut up already, Kei."

"Brat, that wasn't nice. Where did all your charm from yesterday disappear?"

"Went down the drain together with my good mood," Ryoma spat angrily. He didn't want to be constantly reminded about his stupid behavior. His headache wasn't helping either.

"Are you going to show me the tattoo?" Keigo asked, suddenly changing the topic.

"No."

"And why is that?"

"Because I said so."

Keigo briefly closed his eyes. This conversation was going nowhere, and he didn't want to have another quarrel with his stubborn boyfriend.

"Why don't we have some time to ourselves then?" Keigo suggested, putting his hand on top of Ryoma's head, and then started massaging it in slow, circular motions. That was something that Atobe's grandmother taught him when she was still alive. Few years later, Keigo found out by accident that it worked miraculously, not only on migraines, but also on headaches that were the consequences of the previous day of drinking.

"So, what would you say for Ore-sama's proposition?" Keigo asked when he felt Ryoma's muscle relaxed a bit, and his expression softened, certainly due to fading pain.

"No."

"Don't be so stubborn, Ryoma," Atobe said, dropping his hands back to Echizen's waist. "It's not like you will be late for training anyway," he added, putting his head on his younger boyfriend's shoulder and placing the soft kiss on his neck, right below his jaw line.

"What makes you so certain about this, Monkey King?" Ryoma asked, as he tilted his head back and srested it against Keigo's chest. As irritating as Atobe could be sometimes, he knew all too well where to touch or kiss Ryoma to make all his resistance go away.

"Ore-sama saw your father sleeping under the tree next to the main gate and your brother walking out of the sport center grounds," Keigo explained, placing more kisses along Ryoma's chin. "That leaves no coach to lead the training, doesn't it?" he asked, feeling Ryoma slowly melting into his arms.

"How do you know about Ryoga?" Echizen asked, opening his eyes for a brief moment, just enough to take a look at his lover's face.

"Ore-sama knows about everything that is important in Ore-sama's opinion," Keigo explained, remembering the call he got yesterday.

…

_Atobe opened his eyes when he heard his phone buzzing on the nightstand next to his hospital bed. Still tired and sleepy__, he checked the time on the big, wooden clock hanging on the opposite wall. _

_It was eight__ in the evening. Keigo sighed, something that he did much too often to his liking lately. Those five hours since Ryoma had left passed like five minutes. He barely closed his eyes. It seemed that the past couple of days really got him and, indeed, he needed some good rest to regenerate his body a little. _

_Constant buzzing__ pulled Keigo out from his train of thoughts. He lifted the annoying device and checked the caller's ID._

"_Oshitari, Ore-sama hopes that you have a very important reason to call and interrupt Ore-sama's rest."_

"_Oi, Atobe, don't be so harsh. I just wanted to check how you are doing. You really overdid it this time."_

"_Don't worry, Oshitari. Ore-sama feels perfectly fine, so get to the point."_

"_You are no fun, Atobe, you now-"_

"_Oshitari."_

"_I thought that you might find the information about our new coach interesting. He appeared today after lunch."_

"_Is that so? And why do you think it is such an important thing that you need to communicate it to Ore-sama today and can't wait 'til tomorrow for Ore-sama to return?" _

"_Do you remember the ship cruise that Seigaku went to three years ago?" _

"_Of course, Ore-sama remembers, but Ore-sama still doesn't know what it does have to do with the new trainer."_

"_Heh, patience isn't your strong point."_

"…"

"_His name is Ryoga - Echizen Ryoga - our bratty freshman's older brother."_

"…"

"_Oi, Atobe, are you still there?"_

"_Ahn."_

"_Well, I assume that you find this information interesting. Actually, there was something else I wanted to tell you, but I guessed you could find it by yourself tomorrow."_

"_Ahn. Ore-sama will honor you with Ore-sama's presence tomorrow after the breakfast." _

"_If that's the case, then take a rest, and I'll see you tomorrow."_

_Keigo then murmured his "Ahn" and shut the phone, throwing it back on the nightstand._

…

"Besides," Keigo continued his explanation, when he stopped thinking about the previous evening, "Ore-sama had a short conversation with your brother a few minutes ago. He wanted to express his gratitude towards Ore-sama for saving you from that cheat, Sakurafubuki," he said while tracing his finger along the lines of Ryoma's well-defined abs, receiving a slight shudder from his boyfriend.

"Oh, really?" Ryoma raised an eyebrow in disbelief on what he had just heard. Somehow, the younger teen could hardly imagine his older brother thanking anyone for anything.

"Yes, really," Keigo answered, silently omitting the rest of the conversation he had with the older Echizen.

…

"_You are Atobe, aren't you?" Ryoga asked, spotting Keigo in front of the main entrance of Saitama Sport Center. After yesterday's display of affection that his younger brother had shown, Ryoga made it top priority to get to know more about Ryoma's boyfriend. Having tipsy Kevin with them made this task far easier than taking away a lollipop from a kid._

"_Indeed, Ore-sama's name is Atobe," Keigo answered in a cold voice, displeased with the tone Ryoga used while addressing him. He didn't, however, let his irritation be shown on his face. _

"_And you are Echizen Ryoga, our new trainer," he added, showing that he also knew whom he was talking to. _

"_Oh?" the green-haired teen raised his eyebrow, slightly surprised, "I see that news travels fast."_

_Keigo didn't answer. __It was barely an hour ago that he was released from the hospital and was in no mood for a confrontation._

"_I would like to thank you for what you have done to my little brother in those few years back."_

_Atobe nodded and was about to retort that__, for him, it was nothing, but he was fore-stalled by Ryoga, who decided to finish his previous thought._

"_Kei," he started, and Atobe's eyes narrowed dangerously at the sound of the abbreviation of his name. There was only one person who can call him like that. Apparently, Ryoga had heard Ryoma's love confession that the latter shouted over the phone the previous night. _

"_I would never expect my little brother to fall for someone like you," Ryoga sighed, "But since he is a very precious person for me, I really cannot do anything about it, so I just want you to know that I will hurt anyone who will hurt him," Ryoga said with a creepy smile that could put Fuji to shame._

"_Are you threatening Ore-sama, Ryoga?" Keigo hissed, dropping all formalities along the way. He was the Atobe for God's sake, and no one threatened Atobes and left the confrontation unharmed. _

"_I think that you are misunderstanding me, Atobe," Ryoga said, looking straight into Keigo's eyes. "It's not a threat. It's a promise," he explained, his lips still curled into a smirk._

_Keigo was looking at the older Echizen, studying him for a while, then started to laugh like he__ had just heard a good joke. Confusion appeared on Ryoga's face. By any means, his goal was to be taken lightly and to amuse Atobe. _

"_Who are you to tell Ore-sama this?" Atobe asked when he calmed enough to formulate the question. His eyes narrowed dangerously. His expression showed anger. "You were the one who left him when he was still a kid. You were the one who put him in danger and wanted him to lose in a fixed match. It was YOU, who hurt him so much in the past, and you still dare to threaten Ore-sama? You should think about your actions first. Ahn, don't you think?"_

_Ryoga felt offended, but he wasn't going to show any weakness in front of his brother's boyfriend. After all__, nobody is perfect, right?_

"_I did a couple mistakes," he admitted reluctantly. "But I still deeply do care about Ryoma, and I swear-"_

"_Ore-sama does not care a bit about your threats, or promises, as you decide to name them. Ore-sama, too, cares about Ryoma and does not have the slightest intention of hurting him. Quite the opposite actually," he paused, contemplating whether he should voice how he felt about his lover or not, but since Ryoga knew already about their relationship, there was no point in hiding his feelings and intentions, "I love Ryoma, and I'm going to be the one to protect him from being hurt, be it even from his own brother."_

_When the last word left__ from Keigo's mouth, he turned around and started walking back toward the main entrance, considering the whole conversation finished and not giving Ryoga any chance to continue their little chat any longer. _

…

Back in Ryoma's room, Keigo moved his hands from his boyfriend's abdomen to the hem of his jeans, slipping his index fingers slightly under the waistband.

"Do you have any more questions, darling?" Atobe asked slowly, moving backwards, Echizen still in his arms. If there were no coach to supervise the morning practice, they could as well skip it in favor of much more enjoyable exercises.

"Don't call me, 'darling', Monkey King," Ryoma protested, turning around in his boyfriend's grip, glaring at him warningly. With his growing headache, he felt like going back to bed and not moving an inch from it until lunch. As a vice-captain, Kevin could handle the American's team for a few hours.

Atobe took Ryoma's face into his hands, bent his head and slowly let their lips connect. He didn't force Echizen to open his mouth. He just let them stay like that with their lips barely touching. His right hand was sensually cupping Ryoma's cheek, while the left one was moving slowly down his back. Keigo stopped when his arm reached Ryoma's waist. He tighten his grip a little, feeling that Echizen's own hands were entwined around his neck, and his lips parted, demanding more contact.

And who was Atobe to deny his boyfriend his magnificent self?

Soon their delicate kiss changed into tangle of tongues. Keigo's hand was now roaming all over Ryoma's back while the younger teen's fingers were buried in Atobe's hair.

Keigo took a step back toward the bed located behind him with a strong intention of skipping morning practice, when suddenly, a small figure rushed into the room, shouting, "Lyoma", forcefully attaching itself to Ryoma and pushing Keigo aside.

"What the- " Atobe started, but was cut in mid-sentence when he finally caught on the small boy's appearance. He was clinging onto Ryoma, who was actually holding him in his arms. He had a mess of greenish-black hair and big, golden eyes, looking straight into Keigo's own.

"**Who are you?"** He asked, accusingly pointing his finger at Atobe.

Keigo eyed the boy. It was totally obvious that he was an Echizen. Apart from his looks, he was cocky enough to burst into the room, take Ryoma away from him and demand to know who he was.

"Ryoma, can you explain Ore-sama who is the brat?" Keigo asked, crossing his arms on his chest.

Echizen put the smaller version of himself on the floor.

"This is my nephew," he answered, ruffling the boy's hair, then turned to the boy, "Junior, this is Monkey King."

"Monkey King?" Junior asked surprised, tilting his head to the side. A small frown appeared on his childish face.

"Oi, Ryoma, don't teach the brat such things."

"Why?" Ryoma asked mockingly and was about to add something else just to tease Keigo a little bit more, but his little nephew was faster.

"Monkey King," he whispered to himself a couple of times. Finally, something clicked in his small head. "I know," he shouted, seemingly happy. "You are King Kong!"

"Excuse me?" Atobe almost choked, not believing what he had just heard. On the other hand, Ryoma was trying his best not to laugh.

A moment later, the smile faded away from Junior's face, and his expression visibly darkened. The boy shook his head in discontentment. "But you do not look like King Kong," Junior said firmly.

"Of course, Ore-sama does not look like King Kong. Ore-sama-"

"I know! You should be bigger," the boy exclaimed, pleased that he came up with a solution of his problem.

Ryoma almost suffocated his self when he heard what his nephew had just said. It was hilarious, and Keigo's expression was worth of all treasures in the world. Only one of the Echizens could call 'oh so great' Atobe like that and still outlive it.

Unfortunately, Ryoma couldn't stand it any longer and burst with laugh. He didn't laugh that hard for a very long time. He stopped few moments later, only because his stomach hurt, and his eyes were full of tears.

xxx

Meanwhile, Kirihara, Kamio and Ibu were staring blankly at a piece of paper that was stuck into the fence of the tennis courts. They were the first players to arrive for morning practice, and the first ones to find Ryoga's message as well.

"What do you think that means," Kamio asked, still carefully studying the note.

"I have no idea, but I'm starting to seriously hate Ryoga-sensei. First, instead of leading the evening training, he goes with Echizen to the pub, and today, he has not showed his self either," Akaya said, slowly becoming red. "Besides, what is it?" He exclaimed, ripping the note from the fence. "Some freaking code?"

"Oi, breathe, Kirihara," Momoshiro said, tearing the paper out from the raven-haired guy's hands.

"What is it, Momo? What is it?" Kikumaru appeared from behind his kouhai, taking a look at the note.

"Eh?" Momoshiro grimaced. "It's in English… I think." He then thrust the note into Kikumaru's hands. "You read it, senpai."

"What? Why me? I'm not that good in English."

"Hmm, interesting. Do you mind if I give it a try?"

"Fujiko!" Kikumaru jumped, turning around. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Ne, Yukimura, what do you think about it?" Fuji asked, showing the note to the Rikkai Dai's captain.

The latter was studying it for a while, and then smiled, "I think that Ryoga-sensei certainly has interesting methods of coaching."

"Do we have some kind of war-deliberation here?" Sengoku asked when he approached them, who, by then, had turned into a large group of players, standing in circle. All of them were apparently occupied with something.

"Nothing of that sort, you don't have to worry," Fuji explained. "We were just trying to encode the message that Ryoga-sensei left us."

"Akaya, why don't you stick it back to the fence, so everybody can see it?" Yukimura asked his junior.

Kirihara did what he was asked to and soon, over twenty players were staring at the note, written, indeed, in English.

**PLL,**

**FYI, I'm ISO oranges. ****BBB4 lunch.**

**To do list: 100L + 150 P-U + 150 S-U + 100 C-U + 200 K-B**

**Bench Press 10x20; ¾ weight **

**B (at) the main gate: 3pm**

**DNBL8, coz we r going BBQ.**

**CUL8R**

**Ryoga**

**PS. Ryoma RU OK? PCM.**

"Heee?"

"Hmm."

"Exactly."

"I totally agree."

* * *

**A/N**:Are you able to read the message? (at) was actually supposed to be 'at' like in an e-mail address, but ff was making it to disappear all the time =(

Let's make a deal =) You let me know what you think about the chapter and I will post the next one in few days. 'kay? =)

(Actually, it's already written and I'm waiting for Koshimae Ryo to correct it, but hush, don't tell anyone =p)

Trick or treat!


	18. Nasty mood

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I own Royal Pair though, but I don't. Sob...

**WARNING:** This will be **YAOI / BL** story. Cannon characters may be **OCC**.

**SPECIAL THANKS:** Koshimae Ryo for betaing.

**THANK YOU FOR R&R: **Misting Rain, .friends, Eos-hime, itachisgurl93, Pri-Chan 1410, Ali Midnight, xxSnowxxAngelxx, HiKaRi-ChIbI, Koshimae Ryo, 14thEternityNightMare, elsey951, anonymous, Mile, denizen of the night, bluedoves

**A/N****:**This is the promised part 2 of chapter 17. Pleas read a/n at the end. Remember, **bolded text** is in English.

**ENJOY !**

* * *

**Chapter 1****8: Nasty mood**

_Previously on chapter 17:_

_**PLL,**_

_**FYI, I'm ISO oranges. **__**BBB4 lunch.**_

_**To do list: 100L + 150 P-U + 150 S-U + 100 C-U + 200 K-B**_

_**Bench Press 10x20; ¾ weight **_

_**B (at) the main gate: 3pm**_

_**DNBL8, coz we r going BBQ.**_

_**CUL8R**_

_**Ryoga**_

_**PS. Ryoma RU OK? PCM.**_

_"__Heee?"_

_"__Hmm."_

_"__Exactly."_

_"__I totally agree."_

_

* * *

_

"You seem like you need some help," David said when he finally got bored of watching struggles of his rivals from Japan.

"If you would be that kind-" Tezuka started, but Fuji interrupted him suddenly.

"No, thank you. We do not," he said, sending shivers down the spine of more than one player. His blue eyes were drilling holes into the American's strategist head. Fuji still didn't find a way to get back on David for _stealing _hisOshitari from him. Seriously, since when had Fuji become so possessive?

"Fuji," Tezuka said firmly. He had no idea what got into his friend and why he was acting like that for the past few days, but now certainly wasn't a good time to discuss the matter.

"**Did you explain the note for them already?" **Kevin asked, appearing with his team, with most of the players at least. One green-haired teen was still missing.

"**Well, actually, I was about to start,"** he answered, smiling lightly in Fuji's direction. David wasn't stupid; it's quite the opposite, and, although he didn't understand Fuji's illogical jealousy, he still found it extremely amusing to tease the tensai.

"**Can we start already?" **Tony said impatiently, **"The sooner we start, the sooner we finish, and knowing that bastard, Ryoga, he will work us to death." **He still wasn't on talking terms with his ex-boyfriend, and the fact that the other went yesterday to the pub and had fun by himself wasn't helping either.

"**Easy, cowboy." **Kevin patted his friend on the shoulder, coming closer to the fence. **"Let me see," **he looked at the note, and then started reading it aloud without any difficulties. **"People, I'm in search of oranges. I will be back before lunch…"**

"Oranges?" Kirihara quietly asked Sengoku, who was standing next to him.

"Have no idea."

"I will explain to you later," Momoshiro whispered.

"**About the training menu," **Kevin continued, **"100 laps, 150 push-ups, 150 sit-ups, 100 chin-ups, 200 knee-bends and ten series of twenty repetitions of each on the bench with the load of ¾ of your weight." **

"Oh, my God."

"We are going to do this 'til evening."

"Kikumaru-senpai, what are **chin-ups**?"

"**Be at the main gate at 3 pm.**** Don't be late, because we are going to have****barbecue.****See you later. Ryoga." **Kevin finished reading, and then addressed Rick, **"Can you text Ryoma and tell him that Ryoga is asking if he is 'okay' and is waiting for a call?" **

"So that's it? He is not going to show up today, too? And, instead of tennis practice, he is going to make us run for a whole day again!" Kirihara shouted, really pissed by then. His hair was turning white at that point. He threatened that he would explode at any moment.

"Akaya, stop it," Sanada cut him shortly, although he, himself, wasn't happy about the whole situation either. They took tennis seriously and were used to discipline.

"So today, I'm not going to play Koshimae, too?" The tears appeared in Kintarou's eyes, and his lips started to twitch. He then turned his big, wet eyes towards Shiraishi, expecting that his captain would do something about it. It was already their sixth day at the camp, and he still didn't get to play Ryoma. Aside from this, he hadn't even touched his precious tennis racket.

"Don't sulk, Kin-chan. There is still plenty of time 'til the end of the camp. I'm sure you will be able to play Echizen later," the Shitenhouji's captain tried to pacify his most troublesome kouhai. If it's not done at the early stage who knows what the red-head may do.

"I think they are right," Shishido stated, crossing his arms on his chest, "We are supposed to improve our skills and choose the Japan team. I came here to play tennis, not to join track and field club."

"Oi, don't say it like that, Ryou. I'm sure that both Echizen senseis have a good reason for this kind of training. Right, Yanagi senpai?" Chotarou asked, turning to his senior, and then patted his boyfriend on the shoulder. He knew that Shishido had a short temper, and he already complained couple of times during past days for both of their coaches and their methods.

"According to my data, it should help you improve your stamina, but because I do not possess your personal, accurate results from just before the camp, I can only estimate the results."

"Anyway, I agree with Shishido-san." Kentaro Aoi stepped forward.

"Me, too." Kamio supported him, although he tried his best not to look at Tachibana. He knew that his captain, as the rest of the captains, didn't tolerate insubordination.

"I have to agree, too." Momoshiro said, putting his hands into the pockets of his jersey and drawing his head back to look at the morning sky. "I do respect Echizen-san and Ryoga-san, but I do not like the way they treat us. They make us run for most of the day, do not let us touch the rackets and even do not show up for trainings. I don't like it at all. I really don't." He sighed, dropping his head.

"Fsss, as much as I hate to agree with him," Kaidoh pointed at his greatest rival, and unrequited, secret love, "But I admit that he is right."

"Did you just agree with me, Mamushi?"

"Do you have any problem with that?"

"No, but what would you do if I had, huh?" Momoshiro moved so that he was now facing Kaidoh.

"You are a total moron, you know it?" It was one of those not-so-rare times that Kaidoh wondered how the hell did he fall for that idiot, Momoshiro. What had he done to this guy above, that he hated him so much?

"Enough, both of you." Tezuka's voice was calm, but not allowing any objection. It seems that it was one of the attributes required for the captain position – the ability to silence the players, gain their full attention with one word and threaten them silently with the unimaginable punishment if they did not obey.

Immediately the atmosphere between the players became quite tensed. Fortunately, it didn't last long. Kevin soon burst into laughter and almost started to cry.

"Kevin, would you like to explain what was so funny?" Yukimura asked, smiling at the blonde.

"Sorry guys, but I couldn't help myself." He said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Seriously, you are sulking like some girls. Haven't we been told at the very beginning of the camp that the first week is going to be like that?"

Few players nodded; few averted their eyes to the side. Some of them were waiting for what Kevin had to say more. "Besides, didn't Ryoga tell you yesterday that you were big boys already, and did _not_ need the supervision while doing a simple workout?"

Bull's eye to the last question that Kevin shut the whole discussion.

xxx

When Ryoma finally got his laughter under control, he squatted to lower himself to his nephew's level then asked, "Junior, could you bring me one chocolate bar and the can of energizer drink from your dad's room?"

The boy nodded and dashed out of the room.

"It's not what you call a nutritious breakfast, Ryoma."

"I know, but I'm already late for training, so you can see by yourself that there is no time for a normal breakfast." He stood up and went towards the bathroom. "Besides, I'm not sure if my stomach can take any more than this now," he added then disappeared behind the doors of the small bathroom connected to the room.

When Keigo was ready to leave, he was stopped on his tracks by the voice coming from the bathroom. "Are you coming, Monkey King, or do you plan on standing in the middle of my room for the whole morning?"

Keigo smirked to himself and followed the voice. Seems that he will get lucky today, too.

When he entered the bathroom, Ryoma was in the middle of taking off his jeans. The only thing that would make Atobe happier in that moment was a pipe and some music. And, of course, some kind of miracle that would let him enjoy watching Ryoma making use of the above mentioned things.

"I thought that you were late for training and had no time," Keigo said teasingly, unfastening his watch and putting it next to the wash-basin. He was not going to show Ryoma how happy he was that the younger boy actually called him there.

"I am," Ryoma simply replied, scanning the label of the tube of ointment he should rub couple of times a day into his tattoo, "but as you can see, I look 'kinda chewed and still reek of alcohol. I'm not going to excuse myself before Oishi-senpai. Any more problems, Monkey King?"

"You are in a nasty mood after drinking, you know it, brat?"

"…"

"Nevertheless, I'm glad that you have changed your mind about the tattoo," Keigo said, pulling his t-shirt over his head and tossing it on the nearby chair.

"It's not like I could hide it from you for long," Ryoma brought his right hand to the hem of his bandage. "But I warn you, Kei, one word about it, and you won't get any from me for the rest of your life."

"Don't be so harsh, Ryoma," Keigo said, coming closer to his boyfriend. Both of them were wearing only boxers at that moment. "You cannot threaten people with the threats you cannot execute." He lowered his head, grabbed Echizen's chin with his fingers and placed a soft kiss on his lips, "It's not just me who is enjoying our time together," he added with a smirk.

"Shut up, Kei," Ryoma retorted, but the small blush that made his way up to his cheeks significantly weakened the power of his words.

Ryoma started to slowly un-stick the bandage, revealing his tattoo bit by bit. First, something that looked a little like a reverse triangle, wide at the top and narrowing towards the bottom. Before it came to the apex, it widened to the sides, revealing that it actually was a hilt of some sort. When Ryoma was pulling the bandage farther down, the black color of the tattoo was slowly mingling with red. Bit by bit, the red ink was forming into petals, just to turn into a beautiful rose. Its stem was entangled around the smooth surface of the sword's blade, showing some thorns here and there.

When Roma took off the whole bandage, Keigo stood still with his eyes wide open. For the first time in his life, he didn't know what to say. Just in front of him was standing his almost naked boyfriend with a palm-size tattoo just above his heart displaying Atobe's family symbol. The one so much detested by Keigo. The one, that never let him forget who he was and what was expected from him. The one reminding him of all the things he had to sacrifice, just because he was the heir. Finally, the one that was recognized by everyone, standing for Atobes' property. And it was that last thought that made him realize what he was looking at. It was like a signature. Ryoma signed himself, showing that he belonged to Keigo. It was an undeniable evidence that Ryoma was his, and only his alone. It made him the happiest man in the world.

"So? You are not going to say anything?" Echizen asked, looking at his boyfriend. Of course, it was he who forbade Keigo from any comment, but he didn't expect him to actually only stare with this unreadable expression of his.

Keigo took Ryoma's head in between his hands and kissed him softly.

"I love you, Ryoma."

When Keigo whispered those words just against Echizen's lips, the younger boy felt incredibly happy and relieved. Some kind of burden fell off his shoulders. He intertwined his fingers in Atobe's soft locks and brought him closer, deepening the kiss.

Keigo's left hand moved to his boyfriend's neck, while his right started to roam all over his back, gradually moving lower and lower. They pressed tighter against each other's body with a caution not to touch Ryoma's tattoo and his still irritated skin.

Atobe's index finger made his way beneath Echizen's boxers, and soon, his whole hand was kneading Ryoma's butt. When Keigo was about to get rid of the irritating piece of cloth, they heard a loud slam of a shutting door.

"Did you close the door to the bathroom, Monkey King?"

Ryoma didn't have to wait for the answer because Junior opened the door to the bathroom and dashed towards his uncle while holding a chocolate bar in one hand and the energizing drink in the other.

"I brought what you asked, Lyoma. Will you play with me now?" He asked, running toward between Ryoma and Keigo.

Atobe was once again pushed aside. He just couldn't believe how impertinent that boy was.

"Oi, brat, nobody taught you to knock, ahn?" His voice was accusing, but his outfit, meaning black boxers, wasn't making him anymore dreadful.

Junior gave Ryoma what he brought for him, then tilted his head up and looked straight into Keigo's eyes. **"Are you Lyoma's boyfriend?"**

Atobe was looking at the smaller version of his boyfriend, not so sure what to answer. He could only guess that the boy was not older than six, and he had no idea whether or not Ryoma wanted to tell the boy about their relationship. Most probably, it wouldn't end up only in the simple story about flowers and bees.

"Yes, he is, Junior. And now, take Keigo to find your grandfather, okay?"

Junior nodded and dashed out of the bathroom, shouting that he is going to take his cap from his room first, leaving Ryoma and Keigo alone. All moods were also gone.

"Ryoma, you certainly do not expect me to baby-sit the brat."

"Who said something about baby-sitting? I just wanted to take a quick shower, and it would be impossible with you here, Monkey King," he said taking off his boxers, instantly reminding Keigo about their activities before they were so brutally interrupted.

"Are you sure it is okay to tell the brat about us?"

"Yeah, after all, his father and Tony, you know, the small guy from my team, are together, at least in the times between their break-ups."

"Break-ups?"

"I will explain it to you later."

xxx

"**Oho, look who is coming****, Kevin,"** Matt, one of the twins shouted, pointing to Ryoma, who was slowly approaching the players. His cap was lowered as much as possible, preventing most of the sun beams from getting to his still sensitive eyes.

"**Do you think he still can see anything with ****his cap lowered so much?" **Alex asked teasingly.

"Ochibi! Why are you so late?" Eiji exclaimed and dashed towards his kouhai.

"Wait, Kikumaru-senpai," Kevin grabbed his hand stopping him and therefore, successfully saving his life.

"Huh? What's wrong? I just wanted to greet Ochibi."

"I wouldn't do it if I were you," David said calmly, stepping behind Kevin. "Ryoma plus hangover is a very dangerous combination."

"What?

"Huh?"

"What do you mean by a hangover?"

"**Yo, princess, I see you've decided to favor us with your presence."**

"**Shut up, blonde."**

"**Got a hard night, captain?" **One of the twins asked, chuckling under his nose.

"**Do you want me to give you 20 extra laps****, Matt?"**

"**You can't do this, Ryoma."**

"**Wanna bet?"**

"…"

"**I thought so," **he then looked at the rest of his team, **"What are you still doing here, anyway? Didn't Ryoga leave a note?"**

"**He did."**

"**So? Are you waiting for - an invitation or what? Move."**

All of the Japanese players were observing the scene with quite a big shock, although, if you thought about it for a while, they really shouldn't be that shocked anymore. After all, Echizen was constantly doing or saying something unexpected since the beginning of the camp.

"Looks like your little pillar of support is no longer as innocent as everybody thinks, ne, Tezuka?" Yukimura whispered to Tawamure's captain, watching as the American players without any word started to run laps assigned by Ryoga.

"Oishi," Kikumaru pulled his doubles partner's sleeve, "What happened to Ochibi?"

"I don't know, Eiji."

"Echizen- " Momoshiro started, but quickly resigned from asking when he saw the dreadful look in Ryoma's eyes when the latter turned to him. "Never mind."

"**I've got something for you****, princess," **Kevin said, throwing to Ryoma two grip emphasis devices that he took out of his pockets.

"**Thanks."**

"**Did you show him already?" **Kevin asked, placing his own set of grip emphasis devices in his hands and turning his back to the rest of the players ready to start running.

"**Show who what?"**

"**You are really slow today, Ryoma," **he said, starting to run slowly next to Echizen. **"Helloooo, tattoo. It's not that hard to figure it out."**

"**Yeah, I did."**

"**And?" **

Ryoma didn't say anything but a small smile made his way up to his lips.

"**Ah, I understand."**

By the end of the conversation, both Ryoma and Kevin were already far away, somewhere on the track that was surrounding tennis courts.

"Hmm, interesting," Oshitari commented to no one in particular.

"Did he just say tattoo, Sanada fuku-buchou?" Kirihara asked his vice-captain.

Fuji turned to his friend, "So, Echizen got himself a tattoo. What do you think about it, Tezuka?"

Tezuka adjusted his glasses. What was he supposed to answer? He made Echizen the next pillar of support. Everyone had seen him as his successor, someone who would continue Seigaku's, and now Tawamure's, traditions. And what was Ryoma doing? Up until now, he was only showing how much he didn't care about all of it.

"You all look like someone has just told you that the whole camp was just a joke."

"Atobe!"

"You can't live even one day without Ore-sama? Did something happen when Ore-sama was not with you, ahn?"

"You can say that it's just the usual, Atobe." Fuji informed and started to run the assigned 100 laps.

xxx

"What do you think about them, Oyaji?" Ryoga asked his father, taking a big bite of his fresh orange. They were standing at the rooftop of the Saitama Sport Center where they could easily observe all the players. They were still running around the courts.

"They are running constantly for four hours now and they still aren't dead on their feet," Nanjiroh commented, and then started to laugh to himself.

"Wanna share?"

"I just recalled how they did look when they arrived at the hot springs on the first day. You should have seen them. Some of them were almost unconscious."

"Do you remember how Chibisuke and Kevin swore like troopers when you made them run that distance for the first time?"

"Ahn, those were the good times."

"Do you have any favorites by now?" Ryoga asked, pointing to the still running players.

"Some of them have much better stamina than I expected them to have. Like that guy," Nanjiroh pointed to the one player that was running close behind Matt and Alex.

"The one in a green bandana?"

He nodded. "Despite the whole hard training, I've seen him run by himself in the evenings."

"Or that one who is running next to Ryoma and Kevin," he pointed at Kintarou, "He came running with those two to the hot springs on the first day, too. He is small, but has unbelievable deposits of energy. "I saw his one-point match with Ryoma three years ago, and if his skills had improved since that time, he would have a huge chance of being selected."

"It won't be an easy decision to make. All of the captains and vice-captains stamina is also way above average."

"It may be," Nanjiroh agreed, putting his hands into the wide sleeves of his monk robe, "But even if that's the case, they are all still mada, mada dane," he smirked then turned around and started to walk toward the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Nap," he threw over the shoulder. "After all, tomorrow is the last day of their stamina improving training, and we will actually have to start teaching them something, so I need to rest as long as I can," he finished then disappeared in the doors leading out of the rooftop.

* * *

**A/N**:Congrats to all of you who was able to encode Ryoga's message =) Except for those under 'to do list' the rest can be easily found in the Internet as most commonly used abbreviations.

How do you like Ryoma now? Don't you think that one more interruption when Keigo is with his lovable brat and he will start to hate Junior? =p

I can't tell you when I will be able to update, but your reviews (and please write something more than "I love your story, update soon', although it still nice) will definitely motivate me =)


End file.
